Online regulation is “a question of humanism”, says German MP

“We, on the one hand, need them but it’s not good if they control the whole lives of the people and the market and also make decisions instead of politicians,” said Sabine, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Member of Parliament for the Free Democratic Party in Germany when discussing tech giants such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Speaking at Calcalist’s Values and Innovation conference, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger argues that a little bit of regulation can go a long way in conserving our civil rights online.

“I think we need a good regulation so that we have a functioning market - we need these platforms in the future for us as private people but also for the IT market and startups,” she continued. “But we have discussed intensively what is the right regulation for these platforms. For me, it is a question of humanism. We need some form of humanism in the IT world.”

In 1996, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger left her role as Minister of Justice in government due to plans for the German authorities to wiretap non-criminal citizens. Years later, she was invited back by Chancellor Merkel to fight for the justice of citizens both online and off.

You can watch the entire exchange in the video above.