Platformization as a Structural Dimension for Public Service Media in Germany: The funk Content Network and the New Interstate Media Treaty

As social media is constantly gaining in importance, public service media (PSM) is forced to create content that fits the environment of social media platforms (SMPs). In Germany, the content network funk by the ARD and ZDF represents a change in the thinking of PSM and policy makers. Since platformization affects PSM institutionally and structurally, German media regulators are addressing platformization in the context of the new Interstate Media Treaty. The article aims to discuss the treaty’s orientation toward digital platforms and SMPs as it attempts to subject them to the control of local state media authorities. Algorithms and data-driven content curation are policed in terms of transparency and non-discrimination, and to ensure that public value content is not marginalized. To enforce this, I would argue, the treaty has to acknowledge the importance of platformization as a structural prerequisite that enables PSM to serve its public demand.