Information monopoly

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Information monopoly means the monopoly control of access to information that is necessary for the free formation of opinion .

Signs of an information monopoly are the concentration of ownership of important mass media with a single owner (or in the hands of several, which should be called an information oligopoly), the suppression of the transfer of information through censorship or the curtailment of the technical infrastructure that is necessary for the free dissemination of information. The latter try z. B. the People's Republic of China with its intervention in the Internet or currently North Korea with the ban on mobile phones .

Information monopolies represent a threat to freedom of the press and democracy . Nevertheless, the control of the transfer of personal data is secured by the right to informational self-determination and the protection of privacy does not constitute an information monopoly.

See also