“The new regulations on ancillary copyright for press publishers included in the latest draft law, in combination with the planned upload filters, will lead to a deep incision into freedom of expression and stunt the development of new and innovative platforms throughout the whole of Europe,” says eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme.

In light of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the German federal government plans to have the “repaired” version of the law on combating right-wing extremism and hate crime on the Internet confirmed by the Bundestag in an expedited procedure before the end of January. The eco Association views the events in Washington with the utmost gravity, but takes a critical stance on the expedited procedure for a law that has been deemed questionable under constitutional law.  

eco warns against unilaterally defining further requirements for social network operators at the national level until the interplay between the DSA and the German Network Enforcement Act has been conclusively regulated.

Owing to constitutional concerns, German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has for the moment suspended the drafting of the law on combating right-wing extremism and hate crime. Going back a number of months, eco – Association of the Internet Industry had already expressed considerable constitutional and data protection concerns about the draft law.

eco sees a clear confirmation of its own assessment and critical analysis of the draft German law on combating right-wing extremism and hate crime and the Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG).

In a newly published position paper on the Regulation of Digital Platforms, eco highlights the central importance of balanced competitive conditions and identifies 5 required fields of action.

In the course of the most recent data scandal, the German Federal Minister for Justice Katarina Barley has called for stricter rules for the operators of Internet platforms. eco Association Chair Oliver Süme comments.

"The plans of the EU Commission for a digital tax explicitly discriminate against the digital industry. We need a coherent tax system that applies the same fair and comprehensible rules to all market participants."