BERLIN, May 28 (Xinhua) -- German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer's comments on regulating political opinions on the internet during election campaigns were "absurd", German Social Democratic Party (SPD) general secretary Lars Klingbeil said on Tuesday.
Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Monday that she wanted a debate on whether political opinions expressed online ahead of elections should be regulated in Germany.
The CDU leader's remarks were triggered by a video posted by German YouTuber Rezo, in which he accused the CDU of destroying "our lives and our future" through inaction on climate change and only making policies "for the rich".
The YouTube video has raked in several million views and the message was picked up and amplified by other German YouTubers and the media.
"What would actually happen in this country if, say, 70 newspapers decided just two days before the election to make the joint appeal: 'Please do not vote for the CDU and SPD'?" Kramp-Karrenbauer asked.
"That would have been a clear case of political bias before the election" and would have triggered "a fierce debate in this country", she said.
Following Kramp-Karrenbauer's comments, Rezo's video shot up to almost 13 million views and has sparked a debate about opinion making in Germany.
"Nobody would get upset if an actor or an athlete made a voting recommendation. If Kramp-Karrenbauer is now seriously planning to take legal action against YouTubers in any way, this will definitely not be possible with my party," said SPD general secretary Klingbeil on Tuesday.
Katrin Goering-Eckardt, the parliamentary party leader of the German Greens, said that Kramp-Karrenbauer "should not blame others for the CDU's result" in the European elections, adding that "those who do not tackle the climate crisis will lose".
The leader of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), Christian Lindner, also opposed the idea and wrote on Twitter that "on the contrary, we need more open debates, even in the social media."
Georg Pazderski of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party suggested that Kramp-Karrenbauer's motivation stemmed from the CDU's "fear" ahead of the upcoming state elections in east Germany in the autumn.
Kramp-Karrenbauer distanced herself from her earlier comments and said that it was "absurd" to accuse her of wanting to "regulate expressions of opinion."
She added that "freedom of expression is a great good in democracy. But what we have to talk about are rules that apply during election campaigns."
Kramp-Karrenbauer comments were in part supported by CDU deputy chairman Thomas Strobl, who stressed that that there was need for rules on the internet.
Those who believe that they are in a legal vacuum on the internet are simply wrong, Strobl said on Tuesday.
