Situation:

Fascism rises again worldwide, but especially in Germany. The ultimate gateway into the scene is music. In the past, fascist music was hard to find, today it’s super easy to come by: streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube host thousands of songs with fascist ideology – even worse, their algorithms help spread those songs. Few people are aware of the problem in Germany. And even though the platforms do know, no effective measures are taken to remove these songs or bands.

Brief:

“Laut gegen Nazis“, an acclaimed organisation fighting fascism in every form, wanted to change that, wake up the platforms and activate people, so fascist music is removed from the web.

Objectives:

Create as much awareness of the problem as possible

Activate people to put pressure on the platforms

Get the platforms to act and remove songs and bands

Strong activation without a big budget

Fascism rises again, especially in Germany. THE gateway into the scene: Music. Fascist songs are super easy to find on streaming platforms like Spotify. Even worse: the algorithms will recommend more once you listen to a song. To remind the platforms of their duty of care, we would trick algorithms into promoting a trojan Nazi band instead, HetzJaeger. But how?

We create the perfect trojan Nazi band and teaser song based on a data analytics tool and countless real-life examples. Every aspect of the band and teaser song was to be optimised precisely to cater to the algorithms' parameters. This should make the algorithms recommend our teaser to real Nazi fans automatically. Finally, we planned to reveal the band's true nature with the release of the entire song and stir public outcry that would force the streaming platforms to enforce regulations.

With the help of music streaming data analysis tools like, e.g. Chart metric, we identified the most popular fascist rock tracks, their fanbase and the most important playlists. We consulted both experts from record labels for streaming services distribution and experts on the fascist scene in Germany. We also screened YouTube and Telegram to get an in-depth understanding of how to optimise our band and song. Next, musicians and producers crafted the piece according to our data findings. Social media experts infiltrated key Telegram and Instagram groups to trick the Nazis into discussing, sharing and liking our band and song. We also used Spotify's and YouTube’s Artist Affinity Targeting to play pre rolls and audio + banner ads for our teaser to fans of real fascist bands – resulting in relevant plays and playlist listings that further trained the algorithms.

Over one year, we analysed Nazi songs and bands to carefully craft our trojan band, teaser and music video. Always Keeping algorithms and Nazi music fans in mind. And then we released the teaser on 30th December 2021 to Spotify, Deezer, Soundcloud, YouTube, Apple and Amazon Music. We ensured real Nazi music fans listened to our song by using Artist Affinity Targeting. We infiltrated Telegram groups and used Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to make the band believable for fascists – luring them into sharing, discussing, and listening to HetzJaeger. And they unwillingly trained the algorithms, making them believe HetzJaeger was THE new Nazi band. On Hitler's seizure of power anniversary, 30th January 2022, we released the entire song and music video. Finally, its true antifascist nature became clear. We proved how the platforms spread fascism, and the public outrage reminded them of their responsibility.

In only one month, the algorithms recommended us to 120,000 real Nazi fans. Following release of the entire song, the Nazi community was shocked and angry, creating additional buzz around our initiative. And proving the streaming services’ role in distributing fascist music, we activated over 200,000 supporters to pressure the platforms. We started a petition on change.org, and the press also pitched in, resulting in a media reach of: 1.7 billion. Topic awareness in Germany rose by +500%. Media covered the operation in over 28 countries. ”Laut gegen Nazis” boosted their social media reach by +771% and engagment with their content by +1,400%, but most importantly, the platforms started to act. Over 700 fascist songs and bands have been removed.