{"id":1814862,"date":"2026-03-08T18:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T15:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1814862"},"modified":"2026-03-08T18:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T15:00:19","slug":"how-dangerous-are-tiktok-co-for-democracy-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1814862","title":{"rendered":"How dangerous are TikTok & Co. for democracy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76270079_6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5A1Me<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
Voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea that serious public broadcasting should make way for private sports and entertainment contentImage: Pierre Albouy\/REUTERS<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Swiss voters decisively rejected proposed changes to the fees that households in the country must pay to finance the public broadcast system.<\/p>\n

The proposition was shot down in a 38% to 62% referendum vote on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Brought forth largely by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and the youth wing of the center-right Free Democratic Party (FDP), the proposition would have cut mandatory annual household usage fees for radio, television and internet from 335 to 200 Swiss francs (\u20ac370, $430).<\/p>\n

The fee is the highest in the world and the Swiss<\/a> government has already moved to broaden payment exemptions and reduce the fee to SF300 by 2029.<\/p>\n

Proponents argued for partial privatization, more sports and entertainment<\/h2>\n

Sunday’s proposal aimed at forcing the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG) \u2014 which is financed by the mandatory license fee and has a statutory information mandate \u2014 to cut its own programming to save money.<\/p>\n

It also called on the SRG to sell airtime to private companies that could provide sports and entertainment content.<\/p>\n

Prior to the vote, the SRG and more than 1,000 university professors argued that strong public broadcast services are fundamental in fostering democracy and social cohesion.<\/p>\n

\n

How dangerous are TikTok & Co. for democracy?<\/h2>\n

Public broadcasters as a defense against the spread of disinformation<\/h2>\n

SRG comprises 17 television and radio channels broadcasting in the country’s four national languages; German, French, Italian and Romansh.<\/p>\n

Prior to the referendum,\u00a0SRG CEO Susanne Wille announced cost-cutting measures expected to save roughly 17% of the broadcaster’s annual 270 million franc budget by 2029.<\/p>\n

Around 900 full-time positions are to be cut as part of the cost-saving regime.<\/p>\n

Referendum backers further argued that SRG stations have a left-leaning bias, whereas public media supporters said the cuts would open the door to the virulent spread of disinformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“A major dismantling \u2060of Switzerland’s media infrastructure has been prevented,” said Laura Zimmermann, who led the campaign \u2060against the cuts. “Our \u200baccess to reliable information remains protected.”<\/p>\n

\n

Europeans worried over Trump’s cuts to public broadcasters<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

\n

Swiss voters decisively rejected proposed changes to the fees that households in the country must pay to finance the public broadcast system.<\/p>\n

The proposition was shot down in a 38% to 62% referendum vote on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Brought forth largely by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and the youth wing of the center-right Free Democratic Party (FDP), the proposition would have cut mandatory annual household usage fees for radio, television and internet from 335 to 200 Swiss francs (\u20ac370, $430).<\/p>\n

The fee is the highest in the world and the Swiss<\/a> government has already moved to broaden payment exemptions and reduce the fee to SF300 by 2029.<\/p>\n

Proponents argued for partial privatization, more sports and entertainment<\/h2>\n

Sunday’s proposal aimed at forcing the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG) \u2014 which is financed by the mandatory license fee and has a statutory information mandate \u2014 to cut its own programming to save money.<\/p>\n

It also called on the SRG to sell airtime to private companies that could provide sports and entertainment content.<\/p>\n

Prior to the vote, the SRG and more than 1,000 university professors argued that strong public broadcast services are fundamental in fostering democracy and social cohesion.<\/p>\n

\n

How dangerous are TikTok & Co. for democracy?<\/h2>\n

Public broadcasters as a defense against the spread of disinformation<\/h2>\n

SRG comprises 17 television and radio channels broadcasting in the country’s four national languages; German, French, Italian and Romansh.<\/p>\n

Prior to the referendum,\u00a0SRG CEO Susanne Wille announced cost-cutting measures expected to save roughly 17% of the broadcaster’s annual 270 million franc budget by 2029.<\/p>\n

Around 900 full-time positions are to be cut as part of the cost-saving regime.<\/p>\n

Referendum backers further argued that SRG stations have a left-leaning bias, whereas public media supporters said the cuts would open the door to the virulent spread of disinformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“A major dismantling \u2060of Switzerland’s media infrastructure has been prevented,” said Laura Zimmermann, who led the campaign \u2060against the cuts. “Our \u200baccess to reliable information remains protected.”<\/p>\n

\n

Europeans worried over Trump’s cuts to public broadcasters<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Swiss voters decisively rejected proposed changes to the fees that households in the country must pay to finance the public broadcast system.<\/p>\n

The proposition was shot down in a 38% to 62% referendum vote on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Brought forth largely by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and the youth wing of the center-right Free Democratic Party (FDP), the proposition would have cut mandatory annual household usage fees for radio, television and internet from 335 to 200 Swiss francs (\u20ac370, $430).<\/p>\n

The fee is the highest in the world and the Swiss<\/a> government has already moved to broaden payment exemptions and reduce the fee to SF300 by 2029.<\/p>\n

Sunday’s proposal aimed at forcing the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG) \u2014 which is financed by the mandatory license fee and has a statutory information mandate \u2014 to cut its own programming to save money.<\/p>\n

It also called on the SRG to sell airtime to private companies that could provide sports and entertainment content.<\/p>\n

Prior to the vote, the SRG and more than 1,000 university professors argued that strong public broadcast services are fundamental in fostering democracy and social cohesion.<\/p>\n

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video<\/a><\/p>\n

SRG comprises 17 television and radio channels broadcasting in the country’s four national languages; German, French, Italian and Romansh.<\/p>\n

Prior to the referendum,\u00a0SRG CEO Susanne Wille announced cost-cutting measures expected to save roughly 17% of the broadcaster’s annual 270 million franc budget by 2029.<\/p>\n

Around 900 full-time positions are to be cut as part of the cost-saving regime.<\/p>\n

Referendum backers further argued that SRG stations have a left-leaning bias, whereas public media supporters said the cuts would open the door to the virulent spread of disinformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“A major dismantling \u2060of Switzerland’s media infrastructure has been prevented,” said Laura Zimmermann, who led the campaign \u2060against the cuts. “Our \u200baccess to reliable information remains protected.”<\/p>\n

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video<\/a><\/p>\n

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez<\/em><\/p>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/swiss-reject-cuts-to-public-broadcasting\/a-76270208″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76270079_6.jpg”] https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5A1Me Voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea that serious public broadcasting should make way for private sports and entertainment contentImage: Pierre Albouy\/REUTERS Swiss voters decisively rejected proposed changes to the fees that households in the country must pay to finance the public broadcast system. The proposition was shot down in a 38% to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,74],"class_list":["post-1814862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dw-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1814862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1814862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1814862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1814862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}