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According to the Federal Data Protection Commissioner Ulrich Kelber (SPD), the federal government will have to say goodbye to the popular social media platform Facebook in the foreseeable future. In a circular he called on the federal government and the federal authorities to shut down their accounts due to concerns about data protection law.
If the Facebook accounts were switched off, the government would significantly lose its social media presence: around 1.5 million followers have subscribed to the accounts of the federal government, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Foreign Office. Other federal authorities such as the Ministry of Economics or the Environment can only be found on other platforms such as Instagram.
As early as 2019, Kelber pointed out that “a data protection-compliant operation of a Facebook fan page is currently not possible”. A change in data processing on Facebook was called for, but fell on deaf ears.
The data protection officer is aware of the importance of public relations work by the federal authorities, but since Facebook’s attitude has not changed, he feels compelled to act. He gives the federal government and its authorities time until the end of the year before he wants to finally implement the shutdown in January 2022. During the transition period, the government and the respective ministries can still provide information about their policies – this also applies to the federal election campaign.
The federal government is now clarifying the next steps itself: “The federal government has taken note of the assessments and recommendations made by the Federal Data Protection Commissioner and will now examine them,” said a government spokesman.
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