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Berlin (dpa) - From the point of view of Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble, the international community should restrict freedom on the Internet.
"Even unlimited freedom is always self-destructive," said the CDU politician on Monday in Berlin during the corona-related digital opening of the Unter den Linden State Library.
An unfiltered public would lose its critical function.
"When the logic of likes and followers replaces the social, professional filter, it is less and less able to focus social attention on the relevant," said Schäuble.
"The view of what we have in common is then lost."
Companies like YouTube or Google are obliged to shareholders, not the general public.
"Google's search engine is only free as long as it makes commercial sense," said Schäuble.
«In the supposedly free Internet, knowledge is concentrated in a worrying way, in some cases monopolized.
Who says that one day corporations won't be able to pursue a political agenda? "
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Schäuble referred to the suspension of former US President Donald Trump on Twitter.
This shows how powerful social networks have become and how thin the line can be between editorial responsibility and political censorship.
"The international community must not leave this tightrope walk to the monopolists."
That is the great challenge for a liberal democracy based on the rule of law.
The task of libraries today is to prevent commercial information monopolies.
"Especially in a digitized public, we need neutral and reliable institutions that document knowledge, make it accessible - and yes, also filter it!"
This would enable readers to evaluate information critically.
The State Library, founded in 1661, had been renovated in several stages since 2005 while it was still in operation for 470 million euros.
In future there will be 663 workplaces in six special reading rooms, in the large reading room and in group work rooms.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210125-99-162723 / 2
State Library
Information on renovation
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Vita Schneider-Kempf
History of the State Library
Analysis Science Council
YouTube channel Stabi with opening stream
Data sheet on stabilization and renovation