German state premier: US and Chinese tech giants should pay a levy

The premier of the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate said that major technology companies from the United States and China should be required to pay more, arguing that such a move is necessary to help protect Germany's media landscape.

"Artificial intelligence systems use content created by editors, process it further and make it available free of charge. This puts many business models of private media providers at risk," Alexander Schweitzer told the Rheinische Post newspaper in comments published on Saturday.

Schweitzer said he is therefore advocating a form of digital levy.

"We first need to discuss the precise level of such a levy [with the other German state premiers], but time is of the essence," said Schweitzer, who also chairs the broadcasting commission.

He added that a proposal from the conference of premiers should be presented before the end of the year. "Media providers are running out of time," he said.

US President Donald Trump has threatened countries that impose digital taxes or regulate US companies with new tariffs.

Schweitzer stressed that a digital levy should not be viewed as an instrument in a trade dispute.

"This is a democracy issue and a media freedom issue, not primarily a foreign policy tool to strengthen Europe's position in tariff or trade conflicts," he said.