Germany is planning to force social media platforms to make state-approved content 20% of algorithmic recommendations, in order to provide more “diversity of opinion”.
Under the draft proposal, which is open for public consultation, the country’s left-wing public broadcasters automatically qualify to be featured, while private media companies will need to apply to be included in the quota.
The Broadcasting Commission of the Federal States said the initiative was necessary as journalism is often out-competed by other types of content on social media.
The Berliner Zeitung warned that the proposal could increase the competitive advantage of publicly funded broadcasters such as ARD, ZDF, which are known to be pro-mass immigration, and hostile to right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The newspaper also stated that because not every article would be assessed, the quota may only “increase the visibility of selected providers without guaranteeing that users will see more diverse viewpoints”.
Institute for Remigration founder Martin Sellner criticised the plan on X, saying “you can’t make this up”, while commentator Bernd Kaiser called it “a blatant attempt to secure air superiority over online discourse”.
The proposal comes after the chairman of public broadcaster ARD admitted on a podcast that its coverage of mass immigration was “probably not critical enough”, and that it tended to lecture AfD voters, Remix reported.
A recent poll found that only 31% of Germans trust ARD, ZDF and other public broadcasters, a figure which drops to 25% for those aged 16 to 25, and 15% for AfD voters.
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