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On 20 January 2023, the Rundfunkkommission (Broadcasting Commission) adopted a decision on public broadcasting reforms in Germany, in which it laid down some key elements of the necessary overhaul of rules governing German public broadcasters. The Broadcasting Commission comprises representatives of the State and Senate Chancelleries of the Länder, which are responsible for media policy and legislation, acts as a permanent forum for the discussion of issues relating to media policy and lays the ground for future regulation in the form of state treaties. It decided to focus on three main aspects...

In a ruling of 30 November 2022, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court –BVerwG) decided that public broadcasters were entitled to delete comments posted by users in their online forums if the comments were unrelated to their programmes. This applied whether the content was unlawful or not. The court based its decision on the definition of public broadcasters’ telemedia-related remit set out in German media law. The case concerned users’ comments on programme-related content posted on the Facebook page of Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR), which the broadcaster...

On 7 December 2022, the Rundfunkkommission (Broadcasting Commission) of the German Länder adopted a set of draft regulations on compliance, transparency and supervision in public service broadcasting and posted them on its website in the belief that the regulation of public communication should be publicly debated. Indeed, during the preparation of the Medienstaatsvertrag (state media treaty), the Länder always posted the latest drafts on the Internet so that anyone could comment on them. Until now, the German public service broadcasters have approached compliance, transparency and...

In a press release published on 21 December 2022, the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartels Office), Germany’s competition regulator, announced that the proceedings against Google News Showcase had been concluded after the company made a number of important adjustments to its service. The proceedings and the adjustments that have been made mainly concern the ancillary copyright of publishers in relation to Google’s “Google News Showcase” news service, which the Bundeskartellamt thought might breach competition law by squeezing the news services of press publishers and similar...

In a resolution adopted on 16 December 2022, the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament) approved a motion tabled by the ruling parties SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and FDP, aimed at strengthening the work of Deutsche Welle (DW), the international broadcaster of the Federal Republic of Germany. On the basis of the 2022-2025 task plan submitted by DW, the federal government, using the available budgetary resources, will help DW to readjust and clarify its content-related and organisational priorities and objectives, in particular its transformation into a digital media company, by providing...