Greens Call for Stricter Rules for Digital Companies

The Greens are calling for stricter regulations for digital corporations. “The power of digital corporations is not a law of nature. It can be shaped through policy. Democracy must not capitulate to Big Tech,” said Claudia Maicher, media expert for the Greens in the Saxon State Parliament, to the German Press Agency. Saxony, too, must consistently protect freedom of expression from digital corporations. It is essential to bring their dominance under control and to set the rules for public debate.

Saxony can help decide whether the corporations’ influence will be limited

Maicher pointed out that the federal states are currently discussing the second part of the State Treaty on Digital Media. In a draft for discussion, new rules for protecting media diversity and regulating platforms would be put up for public comment. Saxony would have a say in whether the influence of global digital corporations on public opinion is effectively limited. Since the CDU-SPD minority coalition relies on votes from the opposition, parliamentary consensus is of particular importance.

Against this backdrop, Maicher, together with Anna Lührmann, a digital policy expert for the Green Party’s Bundestag caucus, has published a position paper calling for more decisive action by the state government. “The recent incidents involving the digital giant Meta—whether in the Brazilian presidential election campaign or in connection with the ‘No Kings’ protest movement in the U.S.—show just how much power a handful of global companies wield over the formation of public opinion among millions of people, including in Germany.”

Greens See the Power of Digital Corporations as a Threat to Democracy

“If individual players can determine which voices are heard or silenced, then we have a problem with democracy. Freedom of speech means more than just being allowed to express one’s opinion. There must also be the opportunity to be heard,” Maicher emphasized.

According to Maicher, her parliamentary group in the state legislature will call on the Saxon government during the upcoming consultations on the state treaty to make even more consistent use of the leeway provided by media law and to take a “bold stance” in further negotiations. This includes upgrading concentration controls to controls over influence over public opinion and making media oversight more effective nationwide.