German activists sue X demanding election influence data

By Thomas Escritt

BERLIN (Reuters) - Activist groups have sued Elon Musk's social media platform X in a Berlin court, accusing it of breaking European law by not giving them the information they need to track disinformation online ahead of Germany's Feb. 23 national election.

The two groups - the Society for Civil Rights (GFF) and Democracy Reporting International - said X was not providing systematic access to data like the reach of posts and the number of likes and shares they got.

"Other platforms have granted us access to systematically track public debates on their platforms, but X has refused to do so," said DRI's Michael Meyer-Resende in a statement on Wednesday, announcing the lawsuit.

The groups say they have the right to receive this data under the terms of the European Union's Digital Services Act. X did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Authorities throughout Europe have been on high alert for evidence of systematic online disinformation or operations seeking to sway elections, especially since last year's later annulled presidential election in Romania, where a pro-Russian candidate won a shock first-round victory after what authorities said was a Russian-steered social media campaign. Moscow denied interference.

In the case of X, still used by much of the German government and political class despite some recent departures, the question is lent added urgency by Musk's recent endorsement of the German far right.

"Platforms are increasingly being weaponised against democratic elections," added GFF's Simone Ruf. "We must defend ourselves."

Since his takeover of the former Twitter, Musk has shut down most of the access routes by which researchers were in the past able to track the spread of information on the platform, converting that access into a charged-for service.

The world's richest person, now leading U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to slim and purge the U.S. federal government, hosted the far-right Alternative for Germany's leader Alice Weidel for an interview on X in January, posting: "Only the AfD can save Germany!"

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Mark Potter)