Transparency Under Fire: How Federal States Undermine the Right to Information

The democratic control of state actions is facing a severe test. What failed at the federal level at the beginning of 2025 due to resistance from civil society is now returning through the back door of state legislation. Last year, CDU negotiator Philipp Amthor aimed to effectively abolish the federal Freedom of Information Act (IFG). Now, the dismantling of transparency rights is happening step by step in the states. Berlin was the first: last week, the black-red coalition hollowed out the Berlin IFG under the banner of disaster control.

The capital's case shows a pattern that threatens to become a precedent in other states. In response to attacks on energy infrastructure, the Senate pushed through amendments in the House of Representatives that go far beyond protecting critical facilities.

Ten new grounds for exception make access to information more difficult in sectors such as transport, energy, culture, and finance. Only the cultural administration is exempt, where researchers from the portal FragDenStaat recently uncovered a funding scandal involving the Berlin CDU with the help of the right to information.

Domino effect in the states

According to FragDenStaat, this dam break is acting like a starting signal for Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In Kiel, the black-green state government is planning to restrict the scope of bodies subject to disclosure. Sparkassen, credit institutions, chambers, and professional associations are to be completely excluded from the transparency obligation. Data protectionists also criticize the plan to demand the identity of senders for allegedly abusive requests. This undermines the principle of anonymous authority requests and deters whistleblowers and journalists. In Schleswig-Holstein, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is also to operate entirely in secret in the future.

In Thuringia, an attack on proactive transparency is looming. A draft law by the state government supported by the CDU, SPD, and BSW provides for reducing publication obligations for municipalities. Documents that were previously accessible ex officio will disappear back into drawers. Furthermore, the state data protection authority is to be weakened as the body responsible for enforcing information rights.

Informed debates in danger

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the SPD-Left coalition government intends to link the right to information to the residence registration certificate. Only those who have their primary residence in the state will be allowed to submit requests in the future. This would abolish a fundamental principle of freedom of information, as state actions are of public interest and not bound by geographical boundaries. Over-regional media or transparency initiatives would be excluded.

The governments' lines of argument are similar: security concerns and relief for the administration justify denying access to files. However, when access to data on water supply, finances, or telecommunications becomes a state secret, the basis for informed debate dwindles.

(kbe)