Saving Social Media as a Democratic Force: University of Bremen Joins “Save Social” Initiative

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Jutta Günther, President of the University of Bremen and Björn Staschen, co-initiator of the Save Social campaign. | Quelle: Felix Clebowski | Copyright: Universität Bremen | Download

The Save Social initiative seeks to limit the influence of large technology companies from the US and China, warning that the growing dominance of a few platforms is leading to a concentration of opinion-forming power that threatens democracy. Society needs open communication on the internet. Alternative networks and services must therefore be strengthened.

Jutta Günther, President of the University of Bremen, welcomes this initiative. She was the first representative of a German university to sign the Save Social declaration. "The University of Bremen regularly expresses its views on social issues. We are concerned about the polarization of society and are committed to academic freedom and democracy,” explained University President Jutta Günther. „We are therefore on the same page as the Save Social initiative, which we would like to support with our participation. We don't want to just criticize, but rather strengthen alternatives in light of the negative consequences of the dissemination of fake news and hate speech.”

The University of Bremen is a pioneer in the use of alternative platforms, emphasized President Jutta Günther: “We recognized the consequences of the fatal developments at X (formerly Twitter) early on, and we were one of the first universities to leave X in 2023.” Since then, the university has been using the decentralized microblogging service Mastodon as an alternative.

Björn Staschen, media researcher, journalist, and co-initiator of the Save Social campaign, believes this is the right way to limit the power of tech companies: "If a few super-rich individuals determine who in the world receives what information and when, our democracies are in danger. We should be the ones to determine the rules for our digital debates. We find it extremely encouraging that the University of Bremen is now the first university to join this growing movement that wants to preserve the democratic power of social media."

The initiative's supporters include scientists, artists, and media professionals. It is also endorsed by “Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV)”, “Deutsche Journalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union,” and the environmental protection organization Greenpeace.

The European Union and the German federal and state governments are being called upon to invest more in the development and user-friendliness of alternative platforms. They should also create opportunities for such platforms to be operated on a non-profit basis. The signatories see an urgent need for action by everyone, including companies, associations, social institutions, and politicians, both at the national and European level. For this reason, institutions across Europe are being asked to lend their support.

Weitere Informationen:
https://savesocial.eu/en/