Social media firms must take responsibility -Germany's Scholz at re:publica

"There need to be platforms and companies that recognise and accept their social responsibility - just as we know and expect in the analogue world," Scholz said at the re:publica digital conference in Berlin. Laws like the Digital Services Act - which foresees hefty fines for online platforms that do not control illegal content -help make markets stronger and would not lead to more self-censorship, said Scholz.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underscored the importance of social media companies taking responsibility for content in an interview on Thursday and defended the Digital Services Act. "There need to be platforms and companies that recognise and accept their social responsibility - just as we know and expect in the analogue world," Scholz said at the re:publica digital conference in Berlin.

Laws like the Digital Services Act - which foresees hefty fines for online platforms that do not control illegal content -help make markets stronger and would not lead to more self-censorship, said Scholz. He compared the DSA to rent protection laws, saying that in places where there are more protections for renters, there are more rentable apartments available on market.

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