Does the TikTok feed lean right? Exposure to Political Party Content among non-partisan users during regional and federal elections in Germany

Populist parties are gaining popularity among young voters in many Western democracies. Young voters increasingly obtain news online through social media websites. TikTok has quickly ascended to become one of the most popular platforms globally. We evaluate exposure disparities regarding political parties by measuring the extent to which parties enter non-partisan users’ feeds. By implementing a sock puppet audit using 78 automated users, we can hold individual user behaviour constant – the main mechanisms through which platform algorithms curate user feeds. We collect data in Germany ahead of the three regional elections in 2024 and the federal election in 2025 (N= 561.000 videos). Overall, political content constitutes 4-10% of user feeds in our sample. When non-partisan users encounter (unsolicited) political content, it is more likely to feature videos posted by or supportive of the far-right, populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party than moderate parties. Further evidence on mechanisms explaining this right-wing visibility advantage points to the importance of multiplier networks and content virality.