Election fraud story, German edition

Maks Czuperski has a fascinating look at the role of Russian botnets in the propagation of fake stories about election fraud in Germany:

Comments from the fringe on the eve of the German election took various forms, including official posts, posts from probable fake accounts, and bot amplification. While no evidence of fraud was presented in the posts, the narrative they all spread is the same: the AfD is in danger of election fraud, and its members should be on the alert to prevent it.

This behavior seems pitched to increase tensions, not least in the polling stations and counting areas. Should the AfD fail to perform well at the urns, it is likely to lead to online accusations of election fraud, potentially undermining the legitimacy of the vote.

The line between war and peace is getting hard to define.