Scaling sustainable social networks in the public interest
A better internet for everyone is possible. Starting today.
How can we design social media platforms that strengthen democratic discourse while remaining both resilient and appealing?
This policy paper identifies five key challenges for scaling a public-interest social web: infrastructure, governance, funding, attractiveness, and public mandate. It outlines a roadmap for overcoming these challenges and building the Open Social Web Alliance into a relevant force within months — starting in Germany.
This will not happen on its own. It requires political will, smart regulation, sustainable funding, and a broad coalition of actors willing to take shared responsibility. The tools and levers are there. Now is the time to put them to work.
Germany can play a crucial role in this process. With political support, public investment, smart regulation and cooperation between civil society, research, media, culture, business and the public sector, Germany can help create the conditions for the Open Social Web to reach a critical mass and provide a model that can scale across Europe and beyond.
The technology already exists. The question is whether we can build the political, financial and institutional framework to make it work at scale.
The policy paper is based on a series of workshops held at the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Berlin between December 2025 and June 2026, where participants explored the key challenges involved in scaling public-interest social networks.
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