What do the parties in Lower Saxony say on digital affairs?

The AfD rejects the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG, Network Enforcement Act) and upload filters and wants freedom of expression online guaranteed by law. Social media operators are to be required to respect that legal framework instead of deleting posts under their own rules.

The AfD wants a free internet. One law makes platforms delete certain posts. The AfD does not want this law. It also does not want upload filters. These are programs that check content before it goes online. Platforms should not delete opinions under their own rules.

The AfD supports a free internet and what it calls sensible data protection. It rejects surveillance of all citizens without specific cause.

The AfD wants a free internet. It wants to protect people's data. The state should not watch everyone. Otherwise everyone counts as a suspect, the AfD says.

The CDU wants to create a digital platform where learners and education providers meet, including a personal digital learning account. This is meant to bring digitalization into adult and continuing education as well.

The CDU wants to build a digital platform for education. People can find suitable courses there. Everyone should have their own digital learning account. Certificates are stored there safely too.

The CDU wants to make public-sector data available for research and innovation as far as data protection allows. Small and medium-sized companies are to receive advice and funding when they use artificial intelligence for the first time.

The state holds a lot of data. The CDU wants researchers and companies to be able to use it. Data protection rules should still apply. Small companies should get help when they first use artificial intelligence.

The CDU wants to develop data protection, data security, and data ethics in a practice-oriented way because data-driven technologies are becoming more important. To that end, research and professorships in these fields are to be strengthened and an independent state ethics commission appointed.

The CDU wants more research on data protection and data security. There should be more professors for these topics. A new commission should advise on ethics in data and research. Ethics means asking what is right and what is wrong. The commission should work independently.

The CDU wants to continue the rollout of fiber and mobile networks and stands by the goal of giving all households gigabit-capable connections by 2025. It counts fast internet as a basic public service; municipalities would continue to get state money for the rollout.

The CDU wants fast internet for all households by 2025. The state should keep giving towns money for this. The mobile network should also grow faster. Companies should keep their promises to build networks.

The CDU wants cell towers to no longer need their own building permit once their type has been approved. In addition, a competence center is to support municipalities with smart city and smart region concepts.

The CDU wants to make it easier to build cell towers. Once a type of tower is approved, no new permit is needed. There will also be an advice center for towns and cities. It helps with digital plans for places and regions.

The CDU wants to set up a separate ministry responsible for all of digitalization and for the IT infrastructure of the state and its municipalities. In return, the Ministry for European Affairs is to be dissolved. The platform argues that the principle of departmental autonomy hinders the digitalization of public administration.

The CDU wants a new ministry for digital matters. It will handle all digital questions in the state. In return, the Europe ministry will be closed. The party says each ministry works on its own today. That slows down digital progress.

The CDU wants to create a central, accessible online portal through which all administrative services can be handled at any time. A service center is to help people use it, and government offices are to reach out to citizens on their own initiative. Visiting a local citizens' office in person is to remain possible.

The CDU wants one website for all dealings with government offices. People and companies can do everything there at any time. A service center will help with questions. People can still go to the local office in person.

The CDU wants public agencies to buy software on the market first rather than develop it themselves, with a preference for open-source products. The IT of the state and its municipalities is to be moved into a shared cloud structure. Municipalities are to receive financial support for the switch.

The CDU wants government offices to buy ready-made software. They should write less software themselves. The state and its towns will store data in a shared cloud. A cloud is storage on the internet. Towns will get money for the switch.

The CDU wants to strengthen digital skills in the state administration by recruiting and training more IT professionals. To that end, a separate civil service career track for IT occupations is to be created. The platform points to growing competition for such specialists.

The CDU wants more IT experts in government offices. They will get their own career path as civil servants. The state will offer more training places. Other staff will also get digital training.

The CDU wants to make electronic case files mandatory in the judiciary by 2026 and to launch electronic legal communication across all areas of law. In the party's view, an effective judiciary must also work digitally.

Courts should work with electronic files. By 2026 this should be required everywhere. The CDU wants to provide money for computers and software. Citizens should be able to order some documents online.

The CDU wants everyone in Lower Saxony to be able to use digital services confidently and plans media education starting in kindergarten. School social workers and police are to be trained to deal with cyberbullying. Those who cross legal lines with hate and incitement online are to be identified and prosecuted.

The CDU wants everyone to handle digital media well. Children should learn this in kindergarten and school. School social workers and police should get training against online bullying. People who break the law with hate online should be punished.

The Greens want to use digitalization as a tool for climate protection while cutting its own emissions. A green IT strategy would make all of the state's digital projects climate-neutral. This comes with open public-sector data and carbon-neutral data centers.

The Greens want digital technology to help the climate. The state's computers and data centers should not harm the climate. Data centers are large halls full of computers. They should run on green power. Government data should be open to everyone.

The Greens want closer links between science, business and public administration so that more mid-sized companies and agencies can use new digital technology. Prevention and help in IT security incidents are to be expanded. According to the program, digitalization should serve people and not be an end in itself.

The Greens want more companies and agencies to use new digital technology. Researchers, companies and agencies should work together more closely. Computers and data should be safer. There should be more help after an attack.

The Greens want to set up a state-owned network company that helps municipalities with the rollout where the market alone does not deliver enough. The goal is a fiber connection for every building, and broadband is to count as an essential public service. The program justifies this with the disadvantages for businesses and people in rural areas.

The Greens want fast internet everywhere in the state. Every home should get a fiber connection. The state should set up its own network company for this. It helps towns where private companies do not build. Schools should get fiber too.

The Greens want to help municipalities offer administrative services online, as required by the federal Onlinezugangsgesetz (Online Access Act). The platform argues that smaller cities and towns in particular cannot manage this on their own.

Many things at public offices should work online. One example is applying for an ID card. Small towns cannot do this alone. The Greens want to help them.

The Greens want to speed up digitalization of the state administration with an overarching digital strategy and give the ministries the staff and organization to carry it out. At the same time, workflows are to become more flexible without putting more strain on employees.

The state's offices should work digitally. The Greens want one shared plan for this. The ministries get more staff for it. Work should become more modern, but not more stressful.

The Greens want the state administration to use more free software and to make public data accessible as a rule. They argue this offers advantages in security, independence and efficiency compared with proprietary programs.

The state should use more free software. Anyone can check and improve free software. State data should also be open to everyone. The Greens say this is safer and makes the state more independent.

The SPD wants fast fiber internet reaching every home and full mobile coverage with 5G. Lack of profitability is no longer to be a reason for leaving areas unserved, which is why the state is to invest in the infrastructure.

Everyone in Lower Saxony should get fast internet. Fiber cables should reach every house. The mobile network should also be good everywhere. The state should help where companies do not build on their own.

The SPD wants to make the digital transition social and inclusive. Accessibility is to be a criterion in every digital project, and no one should be forced to use digital channels.

The SPD wants everyone to be able to use digital services. Digital projects should have no barriers. Older people should get help. No one should be forced to do everything online.

The SPD wants better data because it sees benefits for climate protection, public transit, business and public administration. Publicly generated data should benefit everyone, and companies should share data more often too.

The SPD wants data to be used better. Data created by the public should help everyone. Companies should share more data too. Open data means that data is open for all to use.

The SPD wants the most important government services to be available online and plans a broad digitalization strategy for this. Data security is to improve as well; the state's central office for information security is to become a cybersecurity center.

The SPD wants people to handle important government matters online. People's data should be safe. A center for cybersecurity is to be built for this. The state should help towns and cities with the technology.

The SPD sees both opportunities and risks in artificial intelligence. Employees are to be involved before AI is used at their workplace, and important decisions about people should not be left to algorithms alone.

The SPD wants rules for artificial intelligence, or AI. Workers should have a say before AI comes to their job. People should make the important decisions about people. It must be possible to check these decisions.

The SPD wants to develop digital solutions for cities and regions from pilot projects and roll them out quickly statewide. Rural areas in particular are to get strong digital services.

The SPD wants digital solutions for cities and villages. Some places are already testing them. Good ideas should reach everywhere quickly. Rural areas above all should get more digital services.

The SPD wants to detect extremism on the internet more often and limit the reach of deliberately spread false information. Media literacy is to become a mandatory part of education.

There is hate and fake news on the internet. The SPD wants to do more against it. Helpers online should help people spot fake news. Everyone should learn at school how to handle media.