Digitale Gesellschaft Explained

Digitale Gesellschaft (literally, Digital Society) is a German registered association founded in 2010, that is committed to civil rights and consumer protection in terms of internet policy.

History

The founding members of the association are,, Falk Steiner, Matthias Mehldau, Andre Meister, Markus Reuter,,, and John Weitzmann.

Benjamin Bergemann is a spokesman.[1]

One of the aims of the interest group is to build a campaign infrastructure, and also to reach people who are not internet-savvy. Their founder, Beckedahl stated that "more effective advocacy toward politics and economy" is also a part of their mission.[2]

As of May 2012, the group has approximately thirty members. According to Beckedahl, the small number of full members is necessary to build an infrastructure before opening up to more people.[3]

Issues

The group has worked on topics such as ACTA, Open government, open data, information privacy, telecommunications data retention, copyright, and net neutrality.[4]

In 2013, they led a demonstration at Checkpoint Charlie, during Barack Obama's visit, against the NSA surveillance program PRISM.[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: EU failed to protect citizens from NSA. 19 June 2013. Deutsche Welle. 11 June 2013.
  2. Web site: Neue Internet-Interessensvertretung gegründet. 15 April 2011. tagesschau.de.
  3. Web site: Netzpolitik-Lobby: Beckedahl will etwas Greenpeace und keinen Internet-ADAC. 14 April 2011.
  4. News: "Digitale Gesellschaft": Beckedahl plant Organisation für Bürgerrechte im Web. Von Hilmar Schmundt. Der Spiegel.
  5. News: 'Yes We Scan': Germans Protest at Checkpoint Charlie as Obama Arrives in Berlin. The Atlantic. Olga Khazan. June 18, 2013.