Switzerland postpones online platform scrutiny as US tensions rise
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Switzerland postpones online platform scrutiny as US tensions rise
Switzerland has delayed regulating large online platforms such as Google, Facebook, YouTube and X while trade tensions are rising.
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Two years ago, the government ordered a consultation draft on the subject. On Wednesday, it postponed a decision on the matter once again.
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Users of large communication platforms and search engines are to be given more rights in Switzerland. The Federal Council wants to regulate large platforms by law. It announced this at the beginning of April 2023.
The original plan was to adopt the corresponding consultation draft by March 2024. However, the matter has since been postponed several times. At the end of January 2025, the Federal Chancellery announced that the Federal Council would deal with the matter at a later date.
On Wednesday, the matter was once again discussed by the Federal Council, as interim Federal Council Spokesperson Ursula Eggenberger wrote on Wednesday in response to an enquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency. “The business was postponed. The Federal Council has not made a decision on the matter. It will deal with the matter at a later date.”
That is the official line. Several well-informed sources told the news agency behind closed doors that the smouldering customs dispute with the US was the latest reason for the delay.
Eggenberger did not want to comment on this: “I cannot provide any information, not even on the content of the talks,” she told the media when asked by a journalist in Bern. She could only provide information once the decision had been made.
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Translated from German by DeepL/mga
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