How the Federal Council wants to regulate social media platforms

Florian Bodoky

31.10.2025

Translation: Eva Francis

A new law aims to make social media giants more accountable and offer better protection for users in Switzerland.

It might soon be easier for us to take action against insults on Instagram, hateful comments on TikTok or conspiracy theory loops on YouTube. This week, the Federal Council presented a new law draft that forces social media platforms to take more responsibility for their content.

The planned Federal Act on Communication Platforms and Search Engines (KomPG) is aimed at industry giants such as Meta with Facebook and Instagram and Google with YouTube, TikTok and X. The goal is for these platforms to adhere more strictly to Swiss laws and give users more rights if they’re affected by problematic content.

What does this mean for you?

The KomPG (in German) includes three main aspects:

1. Reporting unlawful content: the new law intends to introduce a simple form on every major platform that you can use to report hate speech, discrimination or false information. You click on «Report», describe the issue – and the company must respond. Ignoring a report isn’t allowed, as platforms are forced to check whether their content violates Swiss law and inform you on their decision and plan of action. If you’re not satisfied with the answer, you can open a complaints case and the matter will be reevaluated.

2. Advertising transparency: the law also suggests implementing greater transparency in advertising. If you see political adverts or questionable products on Facebook, you’ll be able to check the advertising archive to see who’s behind them. Platforms must disclose who’s paying, who the advertising is aimed at and which target groups are being addressed. This will give you a better understanding of why you’re seeing certain content – and who’s trying to influence you.

3. Algorithm transparency: the law proposal requires large platforms to explain how their recommendation algorithms work. Researchers and authorities will be given access to anonymised data in order to check whether these systems discriminate against certain groups or favour political content. So if you feel like your feed’s showing you more and more extreme content, you’d be able to check if this is true.

The law only applies to very large platforms – those that reach at least 10 per cent of the Swiss population each month, i.e. around 900,000 people. This means it mainly affects international corporations, not smaller Swiss platforms. Services such as WhatsApp and Telegram aren’t included because they’re mainly used for private chats.

To ensure the law can also be enforced in relation to foreign companies, the platforms must appoint legal representation in Switzerland. This means if you file a complaint or if legal proceedings are ongoing, there’ll be a specific body in the country that’s responsible for dealing with it – not just a contact point abroad. In addition to a series of measures for non-compliance, OFCOM even reserves the right to restrict access to a platform. However, it’s still to be seen whether this’ll still be in place after the consultation process.

Criticism: too late and incomplete

The law doesn’t take generative AI into account. ChatGPT, Gemini and the like aren’t affected by the planned regulations. There’s also no instrument for quickly intervening in cases of misinformation. The Federal Council states that it wants to focus on transparency and user protection first. What’s also criticised (in German) is that the government has postponed the matter several times and is almost two years behind the EU.

So what’s next?

The draft law (in German) is now going through a consultation procedure, which means that parties, associations and professional organisations can submit their opinions until 16 February 2026. In other words, it’ll be some time before the law actually comes into force.

Florian Bodoky

Editor

Florian.Bodoky@digitecgalaxus.ch

I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue. more

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