- Federal Council is not currently examining a report on the postulate; measures already taken are considered sufficient.
- Revised Data Protection Act requires foreign representation when processing personal data in Switzerland since 1.9.2023
- DETEC draws up consultation draft on the regulation of communication platforms and search engines; obligation to cooperate was not included.
- Existing identification and cooperation obligations already exist in accordance with the BÜPF and associated implementing decrees.
Hässig postulate (25.3379): Identification of criminals on digital platforms
Submitted text
The Federal Council is instructed to examine how the operators of large online platforms can be obliged to cooperate immediately and fully with the authorities in the event of potentially unlawful acts by their users and in any case to enable identification of the users concerned. The tested solutions should take into account the principles of “privacy by design”, data economy and decentralized data storage and ensure that no identity data is stored directly on platforms.
Justification
The extensive anonymity on digital platforms, particularly on social media, encourages the spread of illegal content (especially hate speech, discrimination and incitement to violence). The current controls on digital platforms by human and algorithmic moderators are inconsistent and usually insufficient to take effective action against illegal content. Perpetrators can hide behind anonymous profiles and thus avoid legal consequences.
In order to counter this abuse, operators of digital platforms would have to be obliged to cooperate with the relevant authorities and legal representatives in justiciable cases and make it possible to identify suspected perpetrators.
Statement of the Federal Council of 14.5.2025
Protecting the public from illegal content is a key concern for the Federal Council. In various reports, it has addressed, among other things, the difficulties of law enforcement in connection with anonymous users of online platforms (most recently in the Federal Council’s report in fulfillment of the Postulate 21.3450 “Hate speech. Are there legal loopholes?”). An important step towards improving the situation has been taken with the revised Data Protection Act. Since September 1, 2023, private data processors based abroad must designate a representative in Switzerland if they process personal data of persons in Switzerland under certain conditions (Art. 14 f. FADP).
The Federal Council also instructed DETEC on April 5, 2023 Assignedto draw up a consultation draft on the regulation of communication platforms and search engines and set out the main thrusts. The Federal Council’s mandate of April 5, 2023 did not include an obligation for operators of large online platforms to cooperate with the authorities in the event of potentially unlawful acts by users. The consultation draft was drafted. The Federal Council has already discussed it several times and will make a decision at a later date.
Furthermore, online platforms that provide communication services for third parties and whose services run via Switzerland already have certain identification or cooperation obligations with Swiss authorities based on the Federal Act on the Surveillance of Postal and Telecommunications Traffic (SPTA). Subscriber and user identification obligations are also the subject of the Consultation on two implementing decrees on the Surveillance of Postal and Telecommunications Traffic (VÜPF, VD-ÜPF).
The Federal Council therefore does not currently consider a report on the postulate to be appropriate.