[2] AUF1 boss Stephan Magnet was a manager at the Bund freier Jugend [de] (BfJ), a right-wing extremist youth organization from Austria.
Andreas Retschitzegger, the program manager for Germany, is also a former BfJ squad who was also active in the FPÖ youth organization Ring Freiheitlicher Jugend Österreich [de].
The ordinance has increased rapidly since the TV channel was founded, and since the end of 2022 the station is one of the largest "alternative media" for the COVID-denier movement (Querdenker) and the milieu of conspiracy ideology.
[4] The Austrian media authority Komm Austria [de] announced in November 2022 that it had initiated proceedings concerning AUF1 on suspicion of broadcasting without a license.
Komm Austria wrote that "content obviously designed by AUF1 is broadcast as part of the terrestrial RTV program in the Linz area".
When the construct became known, the responsible media authority in Baden-Württemberg (LfK) banned further broadcasting via the Astra satellite with immediate effect in November 2023.
On 28 February 2024, the authority imposed a fine totaling €195,000 on SRGT for the unauthorized transmission of AUF1 program content between September and November 2023.
When the media reported about it, Magnet accused UNESCO, the EU Commission and the World Jewish Congress of a defamation campaign.
[12] Jan Rathje, senior researcher at the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy (CeMAS), said that the topics covered by AUF1 are part of major world conspiracy narratives.