Frequently asked questions

We are a not-for-profit organisation (gemeinnützige Unternehmergesellschaft, gUG) that was founded in the summer of 2025 with the support of a broad network of people and organisations. Our aim is to safeguard the democratic power of social media. The work of Save Social was initiated by a petition which gathered more than a quarter of a million signatures in the spring of 2026. Today, building on the text of this petition, the initiative coordinates this broad network and drives initiatives against Big Tech and in favour of open social networks that strengthen democracy. More about that on Who we are

Our work rests on three pillars: Firstly, we aim to persuade as many organisations, individuals and communities as possible to switch to better social networks. Secondly, to ensure these networks reach a wide audience, we are working to improve the framework for open platforms in Europe: for example, the operation of platforms serving the public good should urgently be recognised as a charitable activity. And additional funding is needed to make open platforms a credible alternative to the major Big Tech monopolies from the US and China. Thirdly, we engage with many politicians and decision-makers at state, federal and European level to advance our goals through lobbying.

Save Social is committed to preserving democracy – a goal that should unite all democrats from left to right. We therefore see ourselves as non-partisan and independent of the political objectives of individual parties.

We are funded exclusively by donations, both large and small. The many small donations we receive from our supporters are particularly important to us. In addition, since 2026 we have also been supported by the Rossmann chemists’ chain and the search engine Ecosia – a commitment by two European commercial enterprises to champion digital sovereignty.

Absolutely. To ensure the long-term sustainability of our work, we continue to rely on supporters, both large and small. Regular donations, which we process via our partner Twingle, are particularly helpful to us. If you’d like to support us with larger donations, please feel free to contact us directly at bjoern@savesocial.eu.

The German company TWINGLE, which also works with our main bank, GLS, helps us to process our donations. Twingle currently offers the usual online payment methods such as PayPal and credit cards – which isn’t exactly in the spirit of Digital Independence Day. However, we are in discussions with Twingle, who have promised to integrate Wero as a payment method by the end of the fourth quarter of 2026. Until then, you can still use direct debit if you wish to avoid US monopolies but still support us. Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is: if we were to stop using PayPal, Visa and Mastercard, we would lose around 80 per cent of our donation income.

Yes. The German tax authorities have informed us that the articles of association of the non-profit limited liability entrepreneurial company Save Social – Networks For Democracy gUG, as amended on 17 July 2025, fulfil the statutory requirements set out in Sections 51, 59, 60 and 61 of the German Fiscal Code (AO).

Yes. We will send you a donation receipt if you request one when making your donation. This is advisable for donations of €200 or more. For amounts under €200, a bank statement or donation confirmation is usually sufficient for submission to the tax office. We will send the receipt digitally by email.

We are only permitted to use donations for charitable purposes. Our tax consultancy ensures that we adhere to this, so that any audit by the tax authorities is successful. A large proportion of our donations goes towards staff costs, enabling us to coordinate the work of the Save Social Network and Digital Independence Day with a small team. Digital independence is not a hobby – we are up against powerful opponents. We have therefore decided to pursue our goals on a full-time basis from a small office, which currently has two staff members. You can find further information on this website and in a transparency report, which we intend to publish for the first time in early 2027.

Every signature counts. In May 2026, when we presented our petition ‘Saving the democratic power of social media’ to MPs from all the democratic parties in the Bundestag, we really felt the impact of such a large number: a quarter of a million signatures gave us clout and relevance. Politicians take action when they feel they are acting on the will of many voters. That is why every signature helps us.

Campact provides us with a platform for collecting signatures that is unrivalled in Germany. It would be beyond our capabilities to set up and maintain such a platform on our own website. We prefer to focus on the content and are delighted to be able to work with the professionals at Campact on the technical implementation.

We’re also not happy that there are only Big Tech buttons. Save Social, however, is pursuing the ‘+1’ strategy. We encourage everyone to share their positive news at least on open, democracy-strengthening platforms outside the Big Tech ecosystem. We are in discussions with Campact about whether and when they might also include a button on their site to share a petition on Mastodon: we would very much like to see this happen and are also convinced that it would be technically feasible.

You can find our press contacts and media information on our press page.