2 Road traffic law
Before the killer argument comes up that laws on communication threaten freedom of expression, let’s first look at how we have managed this in road traffic. At first glance, it seems incredibly difficult to formalize and implement what you can and cannot do on the road. So difficult that the AI apologists can’t get it right with autonomous driving. Where and how fast I may/must drive is extremely context-dependent, and all these contexts are included in our regulation and legislation.
2.1 Roads
Our laws distinguish between many different types of road: Footpaths, cycle paths, roads, country roads, expressways, highways, with different guideline and maximum speeds. Roads and tracks are built and maintained according to strict standards. Depending on the local situation and the weather, different speeds are permitted and different signage and traffic lights must be observed.
Yes, we differentiate between print, radio, television and the Internet. But there are no quality regulations for different formats such as talk shows. There is no legal classification of social networks. There are no reliable quality guarantees in social networks. Not to mention that we regulate communication traffic depending on workload and topic weather, e.g. before an election, after an attack, etc.
2.2 Vehicles
Not every type of vehicle is allowed on every type of path. We distinguish between shoes, scooters, e-scooters, bicycles, e-bikes, mopeds, mopeds, mopeds, motorcycles, cars, vans, trucks, articulated lorries, etc. These vehicles are subject to different regulations, the more dangerous the more. Brakes and lights on bicycles, seat belts, airbags, ABS, crash tests on cars are mandatory. Cars must have permanent brakes and a parking brake system. Trucks and trailers are subject to more complex regulations for their braking systems.
There are no legal regulations on the safety of consumer devices and communication on the Internet. Social networks could be required to incorporate real-time content accuracy and emotionality checks in their editors. Users could be warned that the content of their tweet is suspicious, repetitive or aggressive, that they are about to become part of an online mob.
2.3 Manufacturers
Manufacturers must not only follow rules for individual vehicle types, but also emission limits for the entire fleet. This also applies without exception to foreign manufacturers who want to operate in Germany.
Providers of social networks are often oligopolists and are subject to almost no regulation. While social network providers like to claim that they are not editorially responsible for content, they are not subject to any neutrality obligations and can push certain actors and content while censoring others. Social networks should be legally bound to neutrality and fairness.
2.4 Insurances
Vehicles must be insured. Without liability insurance, which covers other road users, no vehicle may be registered. There is also a whole range of additional insurances: Accident, partially comprehensive, fully comprehensive. The cost of these insurances depends on the characteristics of the vehicle and the driver. For example, you can ride a normal e-bike without insurance, but a faster pedelec must be insured.
There is no compulsory insurance for damage caused by maintaining an account on social networks. However, this could be required for accounts that have a high level of activity or a large reach.
2.5 Traffic psychology
Following the reduction of the consequences of accidents through technical measures such as brakes, crumple zones, compulsory seat belts, ABS and airbags, psychological accident research optimizes the prevention of accidents on the roads.
The user-friendliness and standardization of control elements, the comprehensibility of signage, protection against attention overload due to too many signs, protection against glare, the design and lighting of priority roads as well as feedback on misconduct and its punishment are designed according to the findings of traffic psychology.
In IT, psychological methods are used to research user eXperience (UX), but the focus in social networks is on commercial aspects and “dark patterns” that lead to hatred, hate speech and addiction. Leaving the responsibility for communication management to the network operators leads to a massive conflict of interest, which the internationally powerful operators decide in their favor. What is needed here is an independent state institution, financed by the social networks via levies, which investigates the management of communication and makes standards that serve the common good mandatory.
2.7 License plates
Most vehicle types may not be registered anonymously, but each vehicle is given a pseudonym, called a “license plate”. This does not allow the driver to be identified, but at least the owner of the vehicle. In certain critical situations, even a pseudonym is not sufficient; the driver must remain with the vehicle in person after an accident, otherwise he or she commits hit-and-run, which is a serious criminal offense in its own right.
At present, hate speech and incitement to hatred can be spread completely anonymously online; there is no central pseudonymization office or obligation to use a license plate. The use of anonymous accounts in social networks has a certain justification, but must be linked to compliance with certain rules. For example, it must be possible for readers to be sure that the author has certain claimed qualifications. Not simply that the author has paid for a blue tick.
2.8 Driver’s license
Without a license you can do almost nothing in Germany, not even pull a fish out of the water. Driving a motor vehicle requires a driver’s license. To obtain this, you have to pay for and complete a training course and pass a theoretical and practical test. Anyone who is dependent on aids, e.g. glasses, to drive a vehicle will have this restriction written on their driving license.
Anyone who disregards these restrictions or traffic rules can lose their driving license temporarily or permanently. In order to regain it, they must go to a psychologist (medical-psychological examination, commonly known as the “idiot test”) and convince them that they are fit to drive a vehicle.
Publishing information on the Internet does not currently require any qualifications, let alone a certificate of competence. Accounts with semi-professional activity or medium reach should be allowed to demand a minimum level of journalistic training and integrity, such as separating report from opinion, and citing sources.
2.9 Professional drivers
There are special requirements for driving professions. Driving a truck requires a special driver’s license, depending on the size of the vehicle. Transporting hazardous goods requires a special driver’s license, and transporting people requires a special driver’s license, different for many people (bus) than for a few people (cab).
Professional drivers are subject to stricter legal requirements regarding fitness to drive, which they must have checked regularly in the interests of road safety by means of medical and, in some circumstances, psychological examinations.
No special requirements are imposed on recreational journalists, full-time bloggers, influencers or even military bloggers. Special due diligence requirements should apply to people with professional activities or a wide reach or security-related topics. For repeated or particularly malicious disinformation, there should be account blocking, de-anonymization vis-à-vis the public prosecutor’s office and special criminal offenses.
2.10 Wrong-way drivers
If someone is driving in the wrong direction on the highway, massive measures are taken: the wrong-way driver is warned about on the radio and the police try to remove them from the road as quickly as possible. The law is tough on wrong-way drivers: Under Section 315c of the German Criminal Code (StGB), wrong-way drivers face a prison sentence of up to five years if the driver acts in a grossly disorderly and reckless manner when driving the wrong way on the highway and there is also a concrete danger to life or limb or property of significant value is damaged.
Professional disinformants, especially in multiplier roles such as professorships or as experts in public broadcasting, but also workers in hostile troll factories or programmed bots pose a massive threat to our communication channels. They must be identified promptly through targeted analyses in social networks in order to close the relevant accounts and severely punish the people responsible.
2.11 TÜV (MOT)
The Technical Inspection Association (TÜV) regularly checks individual vehicles for technical functionality and compliance with emissions regulations over the course of their “life”. Otherwise there is no extension for an expired TÜV sticker. Without a TÜV sticker, a vehicle may not be driven or even parked on public roads.
Neither software nor devices are technically monitored. Social networks should be forced to disclose their algorithms and source code so that the fair and neutral operation of the social network can be monitored.
2.12 Traffic control
Roads and railways are built to strict standards. They must be regularly monitored and repaired. Driving fast in Germany is only possible because you can rely on the condition of the road: an unexpected pothole or a tight bend that is not indicated can have fatal consequences.
Traffic on the roads is also monitored, with traffic cameras, speed checks using radar and even helicopters flying over vacation traffic on highways.
There is no comparable monitoring of safety on social networks. The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) leaves control largely to the network operators, who systematically neglect it for economic and political reasons (X, Tiktok).
2.13 Ecosystem
Cars are important to Germans … so they invest time, creativity and money. An entire ecosystem of service providers and manufacturers has developed around road traffic, which contribute significantly - depending on your point of view - to the value creation or costs of road traffic: emergency doctors, fire departments, technical assistance, towing services, breakdown assistance, driving schools, specialized lawyers and accessory suppliers.
If Germans valued the truth and the quality of social discourse, there would be a similarly mature ecosystem for promoting truth, exchanging opinions … and to sanction actions and actors that hinder this.
2.14 ADAC
The Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil-Club e. V. (ADAC), is the largest traffic club in Europe and is based in Munich. With 21.8 million members (2024), it is probably the largest interest group and lobby organization in Germany and offers services for motorists such as breakdown assistance and insurance.
In 2005, the ADAC enjoyed the highest level of trust among German institutions for the third time in a row. This was the result of the Perspektive Deutschland survey published at the time, which was carried out for the fourth time that year and in which over 500,000 online users took part. According to the survey, 62 percent of respondents trust the automobile club.
2.15 VGT
The Deutscher VerkehrsGerichtsTag VGT is a conference on road traffic law that has been held annually since 1963. It has nationwide relevance, as its recommendations are often taken into account by politicians when drafting laws and regulations.
The conference deals with all areas of traffic science in an interdisciplinary manner, with a focus on case law in traffic matters. Participants are lawyers and experts in traffic law, traffic safety, vehicle technology and traffic engineering from research, teaching and practice. In addition to several plenary sessions, numerous thematic working groups are formed, which publish their results as recommendations.
2.16 Criminal offenses
Endangering traffic is punishable and shows a clear differentiation where road traffic is concerned: endangering rail, ship and air traffic (§ 315a), dangerous interference with road traffic (§ 315b), endangering road traffic (§ 315c), prohibited motor vehicle racing (§ 315d), confiscation of vehicles (§ 315f), drunk driving (§ 316).
Accordingly, dangerous interventions in the public communications infrastructure should be punishable, e.g. suppressing true or amplifying false information in social networks, whether by the platform operator or by an external attacker.
2.17 Traffic offenses
Germany has a differentiated system of traffic rules, what is allowed and what is forbidden. Let’s take the example of parking: where and for how long are you allowed to park your car? Parking is allowed in certain areas, sometimes limited to certain times, sometimes limited to a certain maximum duration, which is controlled with a parking disk indicating the beginning of the parking time. No parking is permitted in the “restricted stopping ban”, only stopping for a maximum of 3 minutes. Stopping is generally prohibited in the “absolute stopping ban”. However, the definition of stopping allows the vehicle to be parked if the traffic situation or an order requires it. Complicated? We all live with it.
In the same way, it is possible to differentiate under which circumstances which lies can be tolerated, how serious the lies are and how high a fine or penalty should be.
2.18 Administrative offenses
Millions of German drivers commit millions of traffic offenses. How can these be punished in accordance with the rule of law without overburdening the courts? The Imperial Criminal Code of May 15, 1871 differentiated between ‘crimes’, ‘misdemeanors’ and ‘violations’, and with the latter created a category of criminal law that provided for the possibility of simplified procedural treatment through pre-trial punishment by administrative authorities for unlawful and culpable conduct with a low level of wrongdoing.
In 1949, with the enactment of the first Economic Crimes Act, the legislature bundled some of the remaining elements of economic criminal law and reduced the influence of the administrative authorities by converting some criminal offenses into administrative offenses. It introduced the fine as a new type of administrative penalty.
The Administrative Offenses Act (OWiG), which came into force in 1952, adopted this administrative penalty. Accordingly, regulatory offenses are all acts punishable by a fine.
The Introductory Act to the Act on Administrative Offences (EGOWiG) of May 24, 1968 converted the offences under road traffic law that are of particular practical importance into fines.
For some violations of the German Road Traffic Act (StVO), a driving ban of a maximum of three months can be imposed in addition to a fine (synonym: fine).
Similar to road traffic, a catalog of fines could be defined for frequent offenses in publishing communication, e.g. in social networks, such as spreading disproven propaganda lies, and temporary publication bans could also be imposed (e.g. account blocking, talk show bans). With § 118 Nuisance to the general public there is a basis in the Administrative Offenses Act (OWiG). Such a scalable administrative procedure could stem the current flood of disinformation, hatred and agitation without jeopardizing freedom of expression, because, as with other administrative offences, the legal process would remain open.
2.19 Traffic police
Compliance with registration, TÜV (MOT), driving license and, above all, traffic behavior is monitored by the police and, if necessary, fined or reported to the police. In serious cases, vehicles are towed away or even taken out of circulation altogether, driving licenses are confiscated and drivers are taken to sobering-up cells. Some of these traffic enforcement measures are so formalized that full police training is not required (formerly “meter maid”, now parking enforcement officer).
Unfortunately, there is no comparable staffed organization with corresponding job descriptions to ensure security on communication routes: this is simply a question of priorities.
2.20 Scoring
Germany has operated a Central Traffic Register (VerkehrsZentralRegister VZR) in Flensburg since 1958 - long before a scoring system in China - in which a account of ‘points’ is kept for each driver for serious violations of the road traffic regulations. In 2014, it was renamed the Driving Aptitude Register (Fahreignungsregister FAER). A high number of points can result in a warning, caution and revocation of the driver’s license.
Modern statistics and IT have made scoring procedures more efficient and economical. The classic example is the Science Citation Index (SCI), created in 1955, and Google’s Page Rank (patented in 1997).
Scoring is the method to technically collect and consolidate knowledge on the reliability of sources and accounts. In social networks, there should be transparency about which accounts report facts and how reliably, how much they spread hate and how often they have been reprimanded. Scores are the basis for imposing fines, temporarily blocking or permanently closing anonymous accounts, and automatically forwarding violations and identities to law enforcement authorities.
2.21 Interim conclusion 2
We regulate roads, vehicles and manufacturers. We pay attention to traffic psychology, our licensing authorities enforce insurances, license plates, driver’s license, especially for professional drivers. We warn and punish wrong-way drivers. The TÜV (MOT) monitors the technical condition of every vehicle, the traffic control monitors roads and traffic, and an entire ecosystem of value-adding products and services has developed around the car. Germans invest money and trust in the ADAC, the VGT continuously develops legal recommendations, criminal offenses are prosecuted and punished, mass administrative offenses are sanctioned largely automatically, the possible traffic offenses are finely differentiated, the rules are taught in driving schools and monitored by specialized traffic police. Violations of road traffic regulations are summarized in a scoring system and sanctions are imposed based on this.
All these measures and institutions have - potential - equivalents on our communication channels.