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Since her nomination, Baerbock has been the target of sexualized hate and baseless claims. There have been slurs about her appearance, there were bogus claims like Baerbock calling for an abolition of pets to combat climate change. And there was a fake nude photo of Baerbock, that was really the picture of a young Russian porn star with a vague resemblance to the German politician.
Since the beginning of her candidacy, Baerbock has faced an on digital platforms, from both foreign and domestic actors. According to a by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, compared to Social Democrat candidate Olaf Scholz and Christian Democrat candidate Armin Laschet, many more of the most-shared Facebook posts about Baerbock contained false information or allusions to conspiracy theories. This same trend was also confirmed on encrypted messenger Telegram.
The institute found that Facebook and Telegram posts aimed at Baerbock pointedly referred to her gender, including sexist slurs. When referring to Baerbock, users put chancellor candidate in quotation marks and used other forms of belittling language, like calling her “the little one,” which users did not apply to the other candidates. Several posts questioned the competence of women in politics altogether.
It also points to a fake news campaign that appeared online soon after her nomination. This has included false claims that she was paid for a nude photo shoot – the pictures of which turned out to be of a Russian adult entertainment model that bears a striking resemblance to Baerbock – fake quotes that she wants to ban owning pets, and another false report that she does not have a university degree.
