"Facebook is an undemocratic communication machine"

Under the motto "What will become of Facebook? Our future with the uncanny power", moderated by Paul-Josef Raue, tempers flared on the second day of the conference, which was attended by over 500 editors-in-chief and media managers. Thomas Krüger, President of the Federal Agency for Civic Education in Berlin, described the US company as an "undemocratic communication machine that tolerates no contradiction". He harshly criticized Facebook's business practices, which are based on opaque algorithms. "The lack of transparency deprives social media of enlightenment," said Krüger. However, he also mixed his criticism of Facebook's dominant market position, which leads to the much-discussed social phenomenon of filter bubbles, with a self-critical tone. "We all made the data octopus what it is in the first place," said Krüger. "We ourselves made the Mephistophelean pact."

"Boulevard on steroids"

While the basic idea of being able to network via social media was welcomed, Corinna Milborn, presenter of the Austrian private TV station Puls4 TV, also criticized the company on the basis of media law. "Facebook is not just a platform, but the publisher of a mass medium - the news feed," she said at the conference in Vienna City Hall. According to Milborn, what can be read there often reminds her of "tabloids on steroids" - including the much-criticized spread of hate speech and political agitation. "We see great difficulties for the cohesion of society."

Milborn, a trained political scientist and journalist, would welcome a broad alliance of media players as a counterforce to Facebook's market - inspired by the idea of public service broadcasting. She is critical of the widespread practice in many media companies of coming to terms with Facebook - with a view to the desired traffic flows. "Facebook is making the European media give their most valuable content to their competitor Facebook," says the Puls4 TV manager. "We would never do that between ourselves otherwise."

Not a criminal system

On the other hand, Rainer Esser, Managing Director of the company, advocated the stance of not demonizing Facebook. The time from Hamburg. "There is abuse on the platform," he said in Vienna. "But there is also 99 percent non-abuse." Facebook is by no means a criminal system, but rather a partner with whom he enjoys working. According to Esser, publishers can only learn from the core idea of social networks. "What makes Facebook more successful? It's the focus on the users."

"Apply existing laws with rigor"

Nevertheless, Corinna Milborn believes that the US company has a responsibility to take a more determined approach to curating content on the platform than has been evident to date. "The publisher principle applies to media," she said at the European Newspaper Congress. "The medium is responsible for the content before it is published." Unlike his fellow panelists, including prominent Austrian author, lawyer, data protection activist and Facebook critic Maximilian Schrems, Rainer Esser advocated not calling for new regulation by hook or by crook. Instead, existing laws should be applied "as tough as nails", he said Time-Chef. "And then look at what social networks like Facebook do more successfully - the legal parts."

At the European Newspaper Congress 2018 from May 13 to 15 in Vienna, 500 editors-in-chief and media managers exchanged their best concepts, reported on successful cases and discussed values and responsibility. This year's speakers included Tamedia Editor-in-Chief Arthur Rutishauser and Sebastian Pfotenhauer, Head of Video at Ringier. The European Newspaper Congress is organized by the media publishing house Johann Oberauer, the City of Vienna and Norbert Küpper, newspaper designer in Germany. Cooperation partners such as the Association of Austrian Newspaper Publishers support this annual European event.