The Bertelsmann Foundation, CeMAS – Center for Monitoring, Analysis, and Strategy, Democracy Reporting International and ISD Germany have published an open letter today with five recommendations for the new federal government regarding independent and effective disinformation monitoring in the digital space. The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) supports this initiative as an institutional signatory.
Key Demands of the Open Letter
The open letter identifies three key challenges:
- Lack of data access and platform transparency
- Fragmented responsibilities and insufficient resources
- Increasing political discrediting of research
Based on these challenges, it outlines five recommendations for a strong monitoring infrastructure:
- Sustainable research funding beyond election cycles. There is a need for long-term, structural funding for platform research—separate from project-based funding models—to enable continuous monitoring of platforms, independent of legislative terms.
- Strengthening the Federal Network Agency as the Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) by providing sufficient staffing and research budgets to support independent research organizations and fulfill its platform oversight role under the implementation and enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
- Building state capacities to detect foreign influence operations. The interministerial project group “Central Office for the Detection of Foreign Information Manipulation” (PG ZEAM) should be further expanded as a central institution for the early detection and counteraction of foreign disinformation campaigns. It should receive adequate and permanent funding and operate in close cooperation with civil society and academia.
- Understanding disinformation monitoring as part of an expanded security policy that comprehensively addresses hybrid threats. Security and societal dimensions must not only be integrated into a common problem definition but also be jointly considered in solution strategies, appropriately funded, and implemented.
- Establishing and promoting an independent research committee where civil society researchers and academics can pool their knowledge, share resources, and engage in a dialogue about ethical standards for disinformation monitoring.
The full open letter can be found here: https://upgradedemocracy.de/desinformation-wirksam-begegnen-fuenf-empfehlungen-fuer-ein-gestaerktes-desinformationsmonitoring-im-digitalen-raum/
The letter is signed by the Bertelsmann Foundation and CeMAS – Center for Monitoring, Analysis, and Strategy, Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS), Democracy Reporting International (DRI), Institute for Strategic Dialogue Germany (ISD Germany), Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM), Dr. Johannes Breuer (Digital Society Observatory, GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften), Dr. Philipp Darius (Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School of Governance), Prof. Dr. Jasmin Riedl (Forschungsprojekt SPARTA, Universität der Bundeswehr München), Prof. Dr. Daniela Stockmann (Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School of Governance).
CAIS Statements on the Open Letter
CAIS supports the recommendations of the open letter. Prof. Dr. Christiane Eilders, Scientific Director of CAIS, emphasizes:
“Free opinion formation is the central prerequisite for democracy. We need a variety of voices for this process, but we must ensure that manipulative and deliberately false messages do not infiltrate the information landscape. CAIS aims to contribute through its research to protecting the public from deception.”
Prof. Dr. Hendrik Heuer, Head of the CAIS Research Program “Design of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence,” highlights the societal relevance of the issue:
“For a democracy to function well, people must be well-informed. False or misleading information poses a significant threat to this. That’s why it is crucial to collect knowledge, present it in an understandable way, ensure access to reliable data for all, and support research in the long term.”