Parties in comparison

What awaits us in the digital world after the election

The fight against hate postings, surveillance, infrastructure, digital office, cryptocurrency, health data and AI research: the Austrian parties want to "rewire" many a sector after the election - according to different visions.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

6.3 million Austrians will vote for a new parliament on September 29 - and thus set a new course not only in the "analog" world. For the parties, the World Wide Web and high technology are no longer new territory, but a space that they want to shape. Krone+ reveals the digital plans of domestic politics so that you can go to the ballot box informed.

For our major series on the network and technology policy positions of the political forces campaigning for your vote, we submitted a network policy questionnaire to all parties. We asked them about their positions on topics such as online hate, messenger surveillance, digital office, new financial technologies and IT infrastructure. However, only seven of the nine parties running in the election responded ... 

Beer Party and Petrovic List failed to provide answers
The Beer Party and the Madeleine Petrovic List do not seem to attach too much importance to network and technology policy. We did not receive any response to our questionnaire from the Beer Party before the editorial deadline. The Petrovic list did respond to our request, but did not deliver the promised positions within the agreed deadline. In contrast, we received very detailed statements from the small parties "Wandel" and KPÖ, as well as from the parties represented in parliament.

We have summarized the network and technology policy positions of the parties for you in various subject areas, whereby considerable differences in the positions can be seen. There are proponents of surveillance and fierce opponents, some advocate more state control of the IT infrastructure, while others see the market as over-regulated. For some, the digital euro is the beginning of the end of cash and for others it is a way of becoming less dependent on US corporations. Opinions in politics also differ on the question of which future technologies the next government should promote in order to secure prosperity and competitiveness.

Below you will find detailed articles on the individual topics:

It will be interesting to see which ideas of the domestic parties actually turn out to be feasible after the election - after all, the services our politicians are discussing are often products of foreign digital companies that are not always readily available to Austria's authorities and judiciary. Many things - such as the digital euro or the European health data space - will also depend on further debates at EU level, in which Austria certainly has a say.

Conclusion: "uncharted territory" was yesterday, the digital space is now a key issue for politicians across all parties. However, the approach is shaped by the respective ideology. "Law and order" versus laissez-faire on topics such as hate posts, cybersecurity and surveillance, "private versus state" when it comes to infrastructure, hope versus skepticism when it comes to digital money. Austrians will decide on Sunday who can implement their visions.