Germany set to restrict its Freedom of Information Act

Post by igl » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 12:57 PM UTC

eigenspace wrote: post #7

Worth 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…

Post by throw1234567891 » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 12:58 PM UTC

pizzao wrote: post #3

OKRainbowKid wrote: post #2

This 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.

A country in decay..

Post by throw1234567891 » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

skinfaxi wrote: post #10

philipwhiuk wrote: post #4

I'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?

What is the rationale to restrict it to citizens? Do you prefer a more open or more closed society?

Post by greenavocado » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 1:02 PM UTC

denvrede wrote: post #12

pizzao wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A country in decay..

I'd generally agree, but my follow up question would be: which western country isn't?

Post by skinfaxi » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

throw1234567891 wrote: post #15

skinfaxi wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the rationale to restrict it to citizens? Do you prefer a more open or more closed society?

Define society. Is some dude in the USA, or UK part of the German society?