Regulation is the only way to make online platforms serve society, MEP says

This article is part of our special report How participation and digitalisation can help implement EU democracy.

How can online platforms that seek to maximise profits be made compatible with or even foster consumer protection, democratic processes, and worker rights? For European lawmaker Tiemo Wölken, the short answer is regulation.

Last year, Paul Nemitz, the principal adviser to the European Commission’s service for justice and consumer rights, stressed the need for making commercially-driven platforms serve democracy at an event of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

Meanwhile, the EU institutions have passed or discussed flagship regulations to bring in rules for the unregulated online world. EURACTIV took stock of the EU’s digital agenda with Tiemo Wölken, an MEP for the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). (...)