The internet has revolutionised our use of news media: more and more of us stay abreast of current affairs nowadays with the help of search engines or social media. Among other things, these tools offer a brief preview of current, relevant media content, often with links to the original source. To date, major online service providers have always used such media content free of charge.

The Federal Council stated in a report of 17 December 2021 entitled ‘Revision of the Copyright Act. Effectiveness review.’ that major online providers were profiting to a large extent from the services of news media in this way. It thus considers that requiring online providers to compensate the news media would be justifiable. Consequently, it asked the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) to draft a bill for consultation to give legal protection to the news media. This legislative change will not change anything for internet users.