So far, digital issues have hardly played a role in the Bundestag election campaign. However, a survey now shows that these issues are of great importance to voters.
People in Germany are demanding that politicians implement faster digital policy projects.
In a representative survey published on Thursday on behalf of the digital association Bitkom, 99 percent were in favor of digitizing schools. 97 percent called for the fight against cybercrime. 96 percent campaigned for the protection of personal data. The digitization of the administration is required by 87 percent.
However, citizens only have limited confidence in the parties represented in the Bundestag to master these challenges competently. When asked which school grade the parties deserve for their digital skills, the respondents only gave an average of three minus (3.5). “Our professional life and our entire everyday life have become heavily digitized in the past four years – but our political system is still largely analogous,” said Bitkom President Achim Berg when presenting the results. “Digitization offers the opportunity to update our democracy, and we should seize this opportunity.”
In the survey, many respondents also expressed their desire to be able to participate in political decisions online. 59 percent of people aged 18 and over in Germany want this option. Before the election four years ago, the proportion was only 48 percent; eight years ago it was 44 percent. There is now also a majority for online voting: three out of five respondents (61 percent) can imagine casting their vote online in local, state or federal elections. However, almost half (49 percent) also see the risk that digital voting could facilitate election fraud.
The respondents are divided when it comes to the question of political opinion-forming: 28 percent are of the opinion that real information is only available outside of the official media on the Internet, for example on YouTube, in blogs or on Telegram. But just as many (28 percent) state that they generally do not trust information on the Internet. And 30 percent agree with the statement that the German media are not free in their reporting, but are controlled by the government.
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