Satirical content undermining the recently-installed German government is sparking the spread of disinformation on TikTok.

Berlin

The German government has refuted claims circulating on TikTok that a new 'solidarity tax' will be introduced to fund Ukraine and Israel. These allegations, which suggest automatic wage deductions for foreign aid, have been denied by a government spokesperson.

The existing solidarity surcharge in Germany was established to fund the costs of German unification and now applies only to the highest earners, businesses, and investors. There are no plans to use it for foreign aid, and calls to abolish the surcharge are increasing. Other false claims about government policies, such as banning cash payments and monitoring sick leave, have also been identified as disinformation stemming from satirical content.

No, Germany not imposing ‘solidarity tax’ to fund Ukraine and Israel

No, Germany is not imposing a tax to fund Ukraine and Israel. A raft of videos on TikTok are alleging that the German government will introduce a so-called solidarity tax to finance foreign countries such as Ukraine and Israel. They claim that as of the 1st of August, the federal government led by Friedrich Merz will automatically deduct money from wages and transfer it abroad at the end of the month. These claims are false and have been firmly denied by a spokesperson for the federal government. We detected the claims being shared by TikTok accounts which profess to be satirical, but they are often amplified by other users without any disclaimer sowing disinformation. The allegations play on the concept of a solidarity surcharge, which does exist in Germany and was introduced to fund the costs of German unification. It still exists today, but only applies to the 10% of the highest earners, businesses and investors. There are no calls to use it to fund other countries, and in fact, there are increasing calls to scrap it altogether. We detected several similar TikTok videos spreading false narratives about the Merz-led coalition government, which was installed in May this year and is composed of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, as well as the centre-left Social Democratic Party. They included allegations that from January 1st next year, German supermarkets will only accept card payments and that cash will be rejected. Other claims state that Merz would introduce home visits to monitor people on sick leave from work. There is no truth to these claims. They represent an emerging trend of satire being amplified as disinformation, sowing confusion on platforms.

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