Table 2: Observed Strategies, Tools and Techniques of Social Media Manipulation in Germany Account Types Messaging and Valence Content and Platforms Communication Strategies Human Bots Pro-Party Support Attack Opposition Driving Divisions Trolling Facebook Conspiracy/Disinformation Twitter Data-driven Amplification Source: Authors’ evaluations based on data collected. Blank spaces indicate no evidence was found. Organizational Capacity and Resources When it comes to cyber troop activity by the state itself, at present there is no evidence that Germany has or is planning to build much capacity in that regard. There are some developments, however, that could suggest the country may consider involving itself with foreign influence operations as it is trying to counter foreign disinformation campaigns and propaganda. The official narrative is to describe these efforts as working to provide objective and reliable information, rather than functioning as counterpropaganda or a counter-misinformation campaign. There is growing evidence that most major parties are employing data-driven microtargeting strategies, which are often supported by Facebook databases even though such utilization remains legally questionable. Still, budgets for such activities are growing: Allegedly the Green Party spent about one third (€ 2 million) of their campaign budget for the 2017 election on online advertising (Dachwitz, 2017). Information operations that are currently taking place in Germany mainly stem from other country’s influence operations, namely Russia, and far-right extremists, including the AfD. These activities tend to linger in the background and show temporary surges of activity during elections or other political events, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic or the refugee crisis of 2015 and 2016. Evidence shows that AfD accounts tend to jump onto favourable narratives and conspiracies to spread them more widely, while Russian activity appears a little more coordinated and deliberate in comparison. Table 3: Cyber Troop Capacity in Germany Team Size Resources Spent (USD) $2,224,560 (Green Party allegedly) Activity Levels Coordination Capacity Measure Temporary (by AfD: low AfD and foreign Russia: liminal actors) Source: Authors’ evaluations based on data collected. Blank spaces indicate no evidence was found. 148