Image: VOLKER WEIHBOLD
The Greens have spoken out against an online real name requirement called for by their coalition partner ÖVP. “Realistic and technically feasible solutions are needed that do not restrict freedom of expression and also last in the highest courts,” the Greens said in a broadcast.
- Read here: Real name requirement for internet reviews? “It’s legally tricky”
At the end of January, VP Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer considered the introduction of a general online real name requirement by 2030 in his “Austria plan”. “The Internet must not be an identity-free space,” Nehammer said at the time. Tourism State Secretary Susanne Kraus-Winkler and Digitization State Secretary Florian Tursky (both VP) recently advocated that in the future online reviews of hotels and restaurants should only be possible with real names (no pseudonyms). This is intended to curb fake reviews that are damaging to business. The proposal was triggered by a similar discussion in Italy.
Tursky wants to make the platforms more responsible with the national implementation of the EU Digital Services Act (DSA). Even with smaller platforms that are relevant in Austria, the platform must “clearly know” the identity of the user, said the State Secretary for Digitalization at a press conference on Tuesday. It is important that there should be no ban on nicknames. “Everyone should and may freely express their opinion anonymously. This ensures free and pseudonymous expression of opinion. But it ends where criminal law begins,” said Tursky. The DSA is “the best vehicle” to take action against, among other things, fake reviews and hatred online.
Platforms should be obliged to provide technical solutions
Good online reviews are an important business basis for many companies these days. Many bad fake reviews can cause economic damage. “In order to effectively contain this problem, platforms must be obliged to implement technical solutions, such as verified reviews and hurdles against mass fake reviews in clearly recognizable campaigns,” said Green Party digitalization spokesperson Süleyman Zorba and Green Party tourism spokesperson Barbara Neßler in a broadcast.
- Read here: Pros & Cons: Judging anonymously online?
“It is well known that negative reviews cause problems in the tourism industry,” confirmed Neßler. It is conceivable, for example, to limit restaurant and hotel reviews to verified overnight stays or restaurant visits, but the real name requirement is a “sham solution”.
The SPÖ also rejects a real name requirement and described the ÖVP demand in a broadcast on Wednesday as a “diversionary tactic” in view of “the ongoing record inflation, the health and care crisis”. As early as November 2018, the ÖVP-FPÖ government announced a “digital masking ban” but did not introduce it, according to the SPÖ’s network policy spokeswoman, Katharina Kucharowits. For the young liberal NEOS (JUNOS), the real name requirement is “a first step towards becoming a transparent citizen”.
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