{"id":113917,"date":"2026-03-06T20:56:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/897711931"},"modified":"2026-03-06T20:56:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:56:28","slug":"swiss-politicians-launch-initiative-to-curb-big-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/06\/swiss-politicians-launch-initiative-to-curb-big-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss politicians launch initiative to curb big tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

A cross-party committee has launched a popular initiative aimed at holding technology companies legally accountable if they fail in their duty of care, reported RTS. Among other measures, the proposal would require large digital platforms to appoint a legal representative in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

<img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="1880" height="1253" data-attachment-id="119480" data-permalink="https:\/\/lenews.ch\/2026\/03\/07\/swiss-politicians-launch-initiative-to-curb-big-tech\/pexels-photo-4467907\/" data-orig-file="https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lenews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pexels-photo-4467907.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1253&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1880,1253" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"Photo by www.kaboompics.com on Pexels.com<\/a>","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"crop woman using smartphone and listening to music in headphones","orientation":"0"}” data-image-title=”pexels-photo-4467907″ data-image-description data-image-caption data-medium-file=”https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lenews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pexels-photo-4467907.jpeg?fit=270%2C180&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lenews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pexels-photo-4467907.jpeg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1″ src=”https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lenews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pexels-photo-4467907.jpeg?resize=1880%2C1253&ssl=1″ alt=”crop woman using smartphone and listening to music in headphones” class=”wp-image-119480″ srcset=”https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lenews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pexels-photo-4467907.jpeg?w=1880&ssl=1 1880w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lenews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pexels-photo-4467907.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&ssl=1 270w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lenews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pexels-photo-4467907.jpeg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lenews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pexels-photo-4467907.jpeg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lenews.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pexels-photo-4467907.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w” sizes=”(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px”>
Photo by www.kaboompics.com on Pexels.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The initiative, presented on Tuesday by the Guido Fluri Foundation, seeks to make digital platforms, search engines and artificial-intelligence services more accountable. \u201cOur fundamental rights are threatened by the tech giants,\u201d said Guido Fluri, an entrepreneur from Aargau. He argued that the business model of large technology companies encourages the spread of harmful content while shifting the consequences onto society.<\/p>\n

The initiative committee includes politicians from across the political spectrum, including the Green Party, the Socialist Party, the Swiss People\u2019s Party (UDC\/SVP), The Centre party, PLR\/FDP and the Green Liberal Party. It proposes that tech firms designate a legal representative in Switzerland to facilitate legal proceedings. The text also envisages financial penalties and, as a last resort, restrictions on access to platforms that fail to comply.<\/p>\n

Tech giants should no longer focus solely on maximising reach; they must also limit risks, said Gerhard Andrey, a Green member of parliament from Fribourg who specialises in technology policy. <\/p>\n

Government proposals deemed insufficient<\/strong>
The initiative builds on a draft law presented last October by the Federal Council to regulate communication platforms and search engines. That proposal aims to strengthen users\u2019 rights and oblige platforms to act more fairly and transparently. But the initiative committee considers the government\u2019s plan inadequate. It argues that the draft legislation was watered down under pressure from technology companies and out of concern that stricter rules could provoke retaliation from the United States amid an ongoing customs dispute.<\/p>\n

The initiative\u2019s backers are calling instead for a more ambitious constitutional framework, which would also cover generative artificial intelligence. According to the committee, digital platforms allow the widespread distribution of criminal and harmful content that threatens society. Children and teenagers in particular are exposed to illegal images of violence and abuse, they say. Cybercrime and foreign disinformation campaigns also pose growing risks.<\/p>\n

The organisers have until September 3rd, 2027 to collect the 100,000 signatures required to force a nationwide vote.<\/p>\n

More on this:<\/strong>
RTS article<\/a> (in French) \u2013 Take a 5 minute French test now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Related posts<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… fundamental rights are threatened by the tech<\/span> giants,\u00e2\u0080\u009d said Guido Fluri, an … Liberal Party. It proposes that tech<\/span> firms designate a legal representative in … from Fribourg who specialises in technology<\/span> policy. Government proposals deemed insufficient …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113917\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}