- The Federal Council currently sees no need for additional regulatory measures in the area of social media, as many issues have already been taken into account in current projects.
- Challenges exist in cross-border law enforcement and the lack of specific transparency regulations for advertising in social media.
On May 10, 2017, the Federal Council determined that currently. there is no need for new regulatory measures in the area of social media (Media release).
In October 2013, the Federal Council presented an initial report entitled “Legal Basis for Social Media”, but at that time it considered the legal situation – in particular the ongoing revision of the DPA . to be too unclear to assess the need for regulation of social media. The Federal Council has therefore assessed developments since then in a new report.
In it, he summarizes his findings as follows:
As this updated status report shows, the issues raised in the 2013 Social Media Report are issues have been taken into account as far as possible in the current regulatory projects. The Federal Council therefore concludes that no additional regulatory activities need to be triggered with regard to social media at present.
The right to data portability is the subject of a comprehensive analysis of the legal situation in Switzerland, the EU and selected comparator countries. It is planned that it will be presented by the end of 2017 as part of the implementation of the Federal Council’s “Digital Switzerland” strategy. The Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) is in charge of this work.Specific declaration requirements for advertising in social media are currently lacking in current Swiss law. Only the general provisions of fair trading law must be observed. With the increasing popularity and professionalization of social media stars, however, social platforms are becoming more and more popular as distribution channels for commercial advertising messages as well. The unbiased formation of opinions among recipients suggests this, to extend the transparency requirement applicable to radio and TV advertising to social media. These and other regulatory issues are the subject of the current review of whether Swiss law should be harmonized with corresponding European regulations and regulatory projects in certain areas.
Law enforcement in the cross-border area in connection with social media remains problematic. As evidenced by various parliamentary initiatives, the topic is also attracting political attention. In March 2017, the Council of States passed the Motion Levrat 16.4082 “Making it easier for law enforcement authorities to access data from social networks” to the relevant commission for preliminary examination. The Federal Supreme Court has also addressed the issue. The ongoing efforts at international level, e.g. in the Council of Europe, to find a practical solution here should be vigorously pursued by Switzerland.