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Germany set to restrict its Freedom of Information Act
- Magicrafter13 3mo agoDefinitely the actions of a trustworthy government /s
- OKRainbowKid 3mo agoThis seems to be the latest attempt of the conservative CDU to further reduce transparency and accountability of government officials. One could posit the goal is to enable corruption without all that hassle of the media potentially finding out about it.
- pizzao 3mo agoA country in decay..
- denvrede 3mo agoI'd generally agree, but my follow up question would be: which western country isn't?
- greenavocado 3mo agoPoland, but its on borrowed time due to the extreme fertility crisis.
- eigenspace 3mo agoLol, what on earth makes you single out Poland as the single western country not in decay right now?
- sam_lowry_ 3mo agoIts economy has been growing for 30 years non-stop, to the point that it is now compared to Singapore.
- jijijijij 3mo agoIn context of the article, the economic performance is hardly relevant. The authoritarian forces are still strong in Poland, their institutional damage persistent.
- snowpid 3mo agoIm really happy for Poland for its growing economy. (though it has the same challenges as Germany roughly speaking) But You can't just deny the political problems. Propably some Americans do it - to cope with Trump who is worser than any PiS president. Poland has the EU as democratic layer but US with Trump doesnt have it.
- jijijijij 3mo agoYeah, I am rooting for Poland, but it's simply not a shining example of democratic integrity. > Poland has the EU as democratic layer but US with Trump doesnt have it. I mean, let's see. The US thought checks and balances would hold, but they didn't, and the EU didn't prevent Hungary and Poland to slip into authoritarian dynamics to begin with. It's not exactly the legal body drawing the latter two back to change, but economic benefits. And Germany also suffers the same untested myth of "checks and balances", which really assumes some political decency. And no legal construct considered bazillionaire tech bros playing god with our dopamine receptors. We all shouldn't take democracy for granted. I hope we all start to see the real enemy of the people and find agreement on what's actually important right now. Luckily, causal relations are becoming evident for everyone to see in this critical time. Now people need to start seeing. I really hope Europe's citizens find unity, a shared identity and a renewed lust for democracy. Quite frankly, here in this libertarian club the EU regulations are not particularly popular, but for me the EU laws are mostly positive and I am a huge fan of the whole thing.
- dyauspitr 3mo agoIt doesn’t have immigrants so the right wing tries extra hard to paint it as rosy.
- eigenspace 3mo agoDing Ding Ding
- maratc 3mo agoThere are about 1.5 million immigrants from Ukraine alone.
- eigenspace 3mo agoThe Americans who fetishize Poland do it because of their concept of it being 'racially pure' while having a growing economy. They don't particularly care about Ukrainians because Americans don't recognize any racial or ethnic difference between Ukrainians and Poles.
- greenavocado 3mo agoLook up a map of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth
- eigenspace 3mo agoSo you are confirming that I'm right in my assertion that the reason you aren't bothered by the Ukrainian refugees in Poland is that you don't see them diluting the racial purity of Poland?
- dyauspitr 3mo agoWhite immigrants. Don’t act naive.
- greenavocado 3mo agoWhere is the lie?
- flossly 3mo agoIs fertility so important? Maybe the other western countries are equally infertile, but just allowed many immigrants in (which counts are population expansion) that also have more children on average. How are Japan and Korea holing out? They are further down the infertility down-spiral.
- BSDobelix 3mo ago>How are Japan and Korea holing out? https://japandaily.jp/why-japanese-elders-choose-prison-over-isolation/ https://japandaily.jp/why-japanese-elders-choose-prison-over... https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/1-in-3-south-koreans-live-alone-in-super-aged-era https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/1-in-3-south-kor...
- greenavocado 3mo ago[flagged]
- master-lincoln 3mo agoPlease provide evidence. Also westerners from which point of view?
- greenavocado 3mo agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggCipbiHwE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggCipbiHwE
- snovymgodym 3mo agoYeah, it's pretty important if you are interested in the continued existence of your society
- woodpanel 3mo agoMost popular boys name, per place: - Warsaw: Nikodem - Oslo: Mohammad - Berlin and Brandenburg: Mohammed - England as a whole: Muhammad Mind you that the names top these lists in spite of usually being present in there in multiple spelling versions. E.g. if all different spelling versions of Muhammad were combined it would top the Dutch statistics as well.
- lo_zamoyski 3mo agoThe very consumerism that has made it materially wealthy has fucked up its citizens' priorities. Indeed, because the wealth differential over the last 30 years is as steep as it is - and because people are generally petty - it actually creates a perverse incentive to prioritize wealth accumulation over family life just to "keep up". You don't want the Joneses to outdo you. You don't want to seem shabbier. So, maybe rapid growth combined with consumerist impulses is a deadly combination for a society. If only rapid growth were combined with healthy and wise priorities...
- dgellow 3mo agoThat impacts the whole developed world, it’s not a polish issue
- skinfaxi 3mo agoThat it sucks elsewhere means we can't decry this instance?
- flossly 3mo agoDenmark? The Swiss? Norway? And I was in Serbia lately, and while it was not as developed as NW-EU, nobody there described it as decaying (and many said they experiences decay when living in western nations over the past 2 decades).
- petcat 3mo agoDenmark is the architect of Chat Control. Even the extreme version that requires all E2E communications be accessible to the government. Denmark is not just decayed, it is completely rotten.
- rvz 3mo agoSome people still don't have a clue that it is the almost the entirety of EU member countries in Europe that are rotten and are not doing particularly well. The only country in Europe that is the exception is Norway which is not part of the EU.
- Oarch 3mo agoI wasn't expecting to find Hamlet in these comments...
- radiator 3mo ago> Denmark is not just decayed, it is completely rotten I don't know about the truthness of this claim, but you are definitely getting the upvote for the humour.
- omnimus 3mo agoControversial proposals like Chat control are often pushed by hard lobby through the current eu presidency state because of their possition. It is likely that if Denmark wasn't heading eu at the time they would have little to do with Chat control. Also likely they were one of the more resilient countries to propose this.
- cucumber3732842 3mo ago>And I was in Serbia lately, and while it was not as developed as NW-EU, nobody there described it as decaying (and many said they experiences decay when living in western nations over the past 2 decades) Yeah, a lot of the western countries that aren't wealthy enough to afford the luxury of indulging in absurd farcical politics and policies over the past 40yr are doing pretty decent.
- tremon 3mo agoWhy limit yourself to western countries? In fact, why limit it to countries at all? Isn't it the most popular trope of all time to decry the state of today and romanticise yesterday? People have "not been wanting to work anymore" for at least 150 years, things were always better in the olden days, people don't make 'em like they used to, etm. There's very little value in a statement like yours. It's a truism that has never been correct.
- xienze 3mo ago> things were always better in the olden days, people don't make 'em like they used to. Just because successive generations make the same observations about <X> doesn't mean that <X> hasn't actually been steadily declining, you know.
- Gander5739 3mo agohttps://xkcd.com/1227/ https://xkcd.com/1227/
- xienze 3mo agoSo are you just repeating the parent's flawed argument? Maybe you should see what that comic looks like extrapolated out to 2026: "yo on god writing be dead, frfr no cap <100 emoji> <fire emoji>"
- Gander5739 3mo agoHow far back do we take it? In pre-historic times, did people crawl accross the ground to better enjoy it? There's little correlation between people complaining about something being better in the good old days, and it actualli being better. Not for no reason is "rose-tinted glasses" an expression.
- inigyou 3mo agoWho said there was one?
- arjie 3mo agoPoland is now in the Western sphere of influence and it is not in decay. A weak case can be made for Ireland but it’s harder to extract effects of tax haven status. But Poland certainly. Going to be a higher income populace than the UK soon at this rate. The US is unusual as a federation. Some parts decline, others rise. I think it’s resilient. And every time something goes wrong, America pulls out a magic new technology. We will see if R&D will carry the day again.
- snowpid 3mo agoThe US is more in decay than Germany. Currently it becomes more and more a broken democracy. Cope is strong here.
- rightbyte 3mo ago> Poland is now in the Western sphere of influence and it is not in decay. Polands fertility rate in 2025 was 1.1. It is some sort of dystopia allready for people.
- throw1234567891 3mo agoAfD will come and rescue everyone. /s
- OKRainbowKid 3mo ago[dead]
- master-lincoln 3mo agoyep, it's the populists communication strategies winning over the voters so people in power can screw the populace as they like and the spin doctors (not the band) will make people think it's in their interest.
- quater321 3mo ago[dead]
- philipwhiuk 3mo agoI'm not really sure I buy the alarm on restricting FoI requests to German citizens and EU citizens in Germany. Should a random US citizen be able to ask a random Germany government official for data? Why?
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- vintermann 3mo agoIt excludes organisations and increases fees. So, if say Amnesty or Greenpeace (two NGOs opposing this act) want to FoI something, they have to get a German citizen to do it for them, possibly at considerable expense - and you bet if they try to compensate them, it'll be "foreign interference" and an excuse for suppression. Like GDPR, the existence of FoI laws give government agencies a reason to develop systems to quickly and effortlessly give people the access they're entitled to. Given the existence of such systems (analogous to the "data takeout" systems businesses must have for PII), giving access to foreigners as well should be unproblematic. It's supposed to be public information in the first place, roadblocks have no place.
- philipwhiuk 3mo ago> It excludes organisations and increases fees. So, if say Amnesty or Greenpeace (two NGOs opposing this act) want to FoI something, they have to get a German citizen to do it for them, If Amnesty aren't interested in setting up a German chapter maybe they shouldn't get involved in German affairs?
- episodeiv 3mo agoIt's not just foreign nationals that would be barred from issuing requests but non-profit organizations as well. Also, the cap on fees would be eliminated, further increasing the barriers for people wanting to issue requests.
- rjmunro 3mo agoIs there any material difference between a non-profit asking and people who work for the non-profit asking? Is the maker of the request made public or something? It sounds like the organizations thing might just be to stop foreign nationals using that as a workaround.
- joe_mamba 3mo agoSame thing happened in Romania. The previous president was burning tens of million of Euros on renting private jets on the taxpayer's dime for trips that weren't related to his duties, and when reporters wanted to investigate this misuse, the government came forward and called the president's travel history (and expenses) a national security topic and remove it from the freedom of information. Isn't it convenient how you can just cover corruption under the rug by invoking national security? I'm surprised it hasn't been used more often.
- eigenspace 3mo agoWorth noting that this is a push from the CDU who are leading the government, but their coalition partner the SPD has already come out pretty strongly against this, so it's rather unclear if this would ever actually go through (not to mention challenges from constitutional courts). The CDU cannot unilaterally push through legislation without the SPD. The SPD has rolled over for the CDU in the past on things, but they've also blocked things they thought were important enough to block, so it's really anyone's guess if this go through (I personally wouldn't bet on it, but I'm sure a bunch of dour pessimists will come explain to me that it's a foregone conclusion and I'm naive).
- igl 3mo ago"SPD will block this" is contradicted by SPD already voting for the identical Berlin version weeks ago.
- chrystalkey 3mo agoNot identical but similar and state vs federal level, might as well be different parties. Thats not to say I am not Just as worried as you
- h4x0rr 3mo agoSPD has no integrity either way
- ffsm8 3mo agoLet's just remember that spd unironically thought the CumEx expert Scholz should be given the highest position in the government. After that debacle I honestly cannot understand how anyone with even an iota of integrity can vote for them again and think any of them would ever act in the interests of their people
- lukan 3mo ago"After that debacle I honestly cannot understand how anyone with even an iota of integrity can vote for them again" Well, there is actually a very old song about them, here in a new version (that is also already quite old by now) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vFL0QWxugI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vFL0QWxugI But the answer is probably lack of real alternatives.
- josefritzishere 3mo agoGermany is forgetting history already.
- BSDobelix 3mo agoI dont think so, they want to repeat it, security-force should be implemented like in east-Germany, capitalism like in west-Germany and the wall is now in the Ukraine build with dead bodies instead of stone.
- inigyou 3mo agoGermany has learned from history and become Israel's biggest supporter.
- BSDobelix 3mo agoShame on you! You turning it upside down, Germany think of them self as the worst war criminal ever (and forever) and that's is why the dont allow themself to ever criticize Israel whatever they do.
- slim 3mo agoand supply weapons for committing genocide
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- BSDobelix 3mo agoTrue: >Despite well-documented violations of international law violations in Gaza, Germany continues to authorize arms exports to Israel. https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/no-german-weapons-to-israel/ https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/no-german-weapons-to-israel/ Also, Germany will not arrest Bibi, even if the ICC orders his arrest. That's how you know Germany is not behind the ICC and does not respect an international court unless it benefits them. This perfectly represents the German government's understanding of what a free, law-abiding, and open democracy should be, and it is directly reflected in the EU. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICC_arrest_warrants_for_Israeli_leaders https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICC_arrest_warrants_for_Israel... https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/election-winner-merz-invites-netanyahu-germany-says-israelis-office-2025-02-24/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/election-winner-merz-in...
- miohtama 3mo agoWhat incidents are driving such a change?
- sajithdilshan 3mo agoRecently there was a days long blackout in the middle of winter in Berlin due to a left-extremist attack on power line infrastructure [1]. This was mainly because all those critical infrastructure information is publicly accessible. I can imagine the goal is to prevent such critical information being publicly available in the future. Also, there was big scandal from then health minister of Germany [2] and the information came out through various media out lets. I can imagine the politicians wants to prevent that happening in the future as well, so the corruption would go undetected (this is just my opinion) [1]- https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-blackout-how-dangerous-are-leftwing-extremists/a-75400358 https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-blackout-how-dangerous-are-left... [2] - https://www.dw.com/en/covid-19-german-govt-suffers-defeat-in-face-mask-scandal/a-69742701 https://www.dw.com/en/covid-19-german-govt-suffers-defeat-in...
- PurpleRamen 3mo agoRumour goes that too many high ranking fraudulent CDU-politicians were exposed with this (Philipp Amthor and Jens Spahn for example).
- beeforpork 3mo agoThe proposal to restrict the access to information came from Amthor himself -- he was in the working group to prepare this proposal for the coalition agreement. It is not a rumour, it is a plain public fact. Amthor's shady connection to Augustus Intelligence was revealed by a request using this law. https://fragdenstaat.de/artikel/exklusiv/2025/03/union-will-informationsfreiheitsgesetz-abschaffen/ https://fragdenstaat.de/artikel/exklusiv/2025/03/union-will-... (In German)
- PurpleRamen 3mo agoYes, it's his job now doing this. But as long as he doesn't directly say it, we can only assume his personal motivation for taking this job and making this proposal, as also the motivation of those supporting him. So for legal reasons, it's "rumours".
- sajithdilshan 3mo agoI don't think this would pass at all, the German parliament is now in summer break and once they're back there would be 3 federal state elections and depending on its outcome, the current government could collapse before the end of this year.
- flohofwoe 3mo agoLol, do you seriously think the 'alternative' would be any more progressive when it comes to freedom of information (or government transparency in general) once they'd be in power?
- inigyou 3mo agoI guess the Left or the Greens or the useless SPD could theoretically win the elections. It won't happen though. It'll be AfD.
- sajithdilshan 3mo ago[flagged]
- tancop 3mo agotheres a world of difference between a left party, even radical left like die linke, and ddr style communist dictatorship. and i dont like the greens views on nuclear power but they might be the only one who can save germany from afd fascism and cdu family-values flavored petty authoritarianism. if your definition of center right is fdp then get ready for even more corruption and corporate capture of everything that matters. privatized railways and utilities, anti union laws, unregulated pollution, stagnant wages and the rich getting richer. theres a reason its called the businessmans party. from an outside pov it looks like there is no center right or center left party that cares about both civil rights and working/middle class economic interests. the only "reasonable" option is the radical left. if someone lives in germany and thinks im wrong please correct me.
- Aeolun 3mo agoWait? They previously allowed everybody and their mother to request the information? Limiting it to ‘citizens of the european union’ seems eminently reasonable.
- varispeed 3mo agoWon't this require citizen to provide ID and therefore citizens asking difficult questions could become a target for retaliation?
- schnitzelstoat 3mo agoYou can also be a resident, paying plenty of taxes, yet not be a citizen.
- LauraMedia 3mo agoYes, and there is currently talks if this also means NGOs like FragDenStaat or media outlets could no longer request information.
- master-lincoln 3mo agowas already the case https://www.bverwg.de/pm/2024/10 https://www.bverwg.de/pm/2024/10
- inigyou 3mo agoIt's already the case that if you question Israel's right to exist you are considered an antisemitic terrorist and arrested - they are now trying to codify this into an actual law (not just something the police do). There is no freedom in Germany. The mistakes of the past did not change anyone's mindset about human rights and freedom. They only learned how to put on a facade of caring about them. And they are the most powerful member of the European Union.
- master-lincoln 3mo ago> The mistakes of the past did not change anyone's mindset about human rights and freedom As if anybody who experienced this themselves has a big influence on current politics...WW2 ended 81 years ago
- jijijijij 3mo agoAs a German citizen let me tell you, the rate of decline this country is in is truly shocking. This is by far the worst government in my lifetime, and remarkably there is wide consensus about it across the population (above 85% dissatisfaction, if you think I am exaggerating here). Industry and trade associations aren't happy either, which raises the question who asks for this? Life is getting forcefully precarious for a lot of people: Reduction of labor rights; stigmatization of unemployment, down to calls for forced labor; inflation; heavy increase in taxes; unaffordable housing... Mind you, none of that is economically necessary (e.g. we could prosecute tax evasion and tax the rich to begin with). All while transparency and democratic institutions are needlessly eroded. And then there is the real threat of a next AfD (fascists oligarchy party) government looming above all. It's like CDU/SPD are preparing for a authoritarian take-over. Incidentally, there are documented connections between CDU leaders and foreign think tanks like The Heritage Foundation. Not to mention the constant endorsement and promotion of the AfD by Musk and Vance. It's fucking wild and scary. I honestly fear, Germany is past the point of no return. I think we got moderately lucky Trump decided to outdo himself with Iran, and then the recent record heat wave, which felt downright apocalyptic. The theoretical negative consequences of some policies became immediately very tangible and undeniable. But I am not sure that's enough to shake up people. The opposition is somewhat complicit by not stepping up and presenting a vision towards democracy, equality and reason.
- wartywhoa23 3mo ago> This is by far the worst government in my lifetime I guess we all can safely conclude that all governments of the word (world's government? shoot that tinfoilhat), at least those who have any meaningful means of destruction at hand, are the worst not only in our, but also our parents' lifetimes (assuming the mean age of HN commenters as 30-40). TL;DR: The fascism is back.
- inigyou 3mo agoGermany is not fascist. It strongly supports Israel.
- 3mo ago
- quater321 3mo ago[dead]
- bitwize 3mo agoGiving the government wide leeway means more restrictions for you and less accountability for them? surprised_pikachu.jpg
- yukeabu 3mo agoFor decades, we have become accustomed to similar anti-constitutional moves from the CDU/CSU. Remarkably, while the German government fails to implement such policies, former CDU chancellor candidate Ursula von der Leyen is pushing them through at the EU level. For some reason, she is now at the helm of the EU. According to German law, anti-constitutional actions are normally considered terrorism.
- inigyou 3mo agoI can explain this: when a citizen opposes a politician, the citizen is a terrorist. It doesn't matter what the actual disagreement is.
- mhh__ 3mo agoIt doesn't feel nice to say but hearing from people I know who work in politics just how much the prospect of having to disclose something changes behaviour (in what people say but also where they say it) I'd be in favour of some moves like this in Britain. There is obviously a very good reason for transparency but I think the full extent of FOI is basically like asking if someone is wearing trousers on a call
- mito88 3mo agoin ontario the same. https://globalnews.ca/news/11943570/doug-ford-cellphone-freedom-information-rejected/ https://globalnews.ca/news/11943570/doug-ford-cellphone-free...
- Markomancer 3mo agoAs a freedom of information officer for a public body in another EU country, I feel that some of these changes such as the restriction of requests to EU citizens are inevitable in my country too. The volume of FOI requests we get is huge and they are more time intensive than ever, due to the fact most are now written by llms. I see no reason why the taxpayers of any EU country should be footing the bill for requests from non EU citizens. These requests take a significant amount of public sector resources to compile records and deliver decisions. Given this, why should a non-EU citizen's request be held in equal esteem to EU citizens'? It comes down to the intent behind these laws. Is it to provide transparency to the citizens that government are accountable to or is it to provide records/information to anyone from anywhere in the world.
- CrimsonRain 3mo agoHow about keeping the information public from start so a request is not even needed?
- Markomancer 3mo agoFully in favour of this and we are making efforts to publish as much of our data publicly as we can. We have set up an open data portal for this purpose. My country differs from Germany in that our Freedom of Information laws are much broader and allow anyone to request virtually any record held by a public organisation, with the grounds for refusal being narrower. For example, generic day to day email exchanges between low level public officials are requestable and we have to argue why it is against the public interest to prevent releasing them. While we're trying to publish as much data that is of public interest ad possible, it's proving very difficult to anticipate many of these requests. In my organisation in particular - we're receiving requests from consultation firms outside the EU on costings for certain services. So we(The taxpayer) are essentially doing their research for them.
- CrimsonRain 3mo agoRequests from outside of eu, the requester should pay the full cost of compilation and then some. Why not make those emails public to begin with? There's no need to compile/publish if all data is public to begin with.
- snowpid 3mo agoWhile I disagree with the doom of some posters (especially coming over from r/de) I do think this is a systematic issue we need to tackle. These organisation fights for a direct democratic veto right so any change change can be fought against with enough signs. Please support (and people from other countries feel inspired) https://www.vetorecht.de/ https://www.vetorecht.de/
- easakura 3mo ago[flagged]