Budget Accompanying Act: State Secretaries' Social Media Management Should Also Be Regulated

Like the Court of Audit, the UPTS took the view that the involvement of ministerial offices in social media accounts of government members is to be assessed as a party donation by the federal government if the account does not belong to the ministry but is operated by the party. This interpretation created political pressure to extend the existing regulation to additional groups of people.

What the New Regulation Provides

With the planned amendment, which is part of the Budget Accompanying Act, it is to be clarified that in the future, cabinet staff of state secretaries may also manage their social media accounts without this being classified as a donation. Since the new regulation, the management of the channels has been permitted under certain conditions.

The prerequisite is that the posts are limited to a factual focus on government work and government communication. This is intended to ensure that the management by cabinet staff retains an official character and is not regarded as covert party work via the detour of state resources.

The amendment is to enter into force upon promulgation of the law but is also to apply retroactively. This would create legal certainty also for those cases in which staff of state secretaries had already previously managed social media channels. The parliamentary consideration is part of the Budget Accompanying Act, which is to be passed in July together with the double budget in the National Council.

Trigger: Penalties by the UPTS

The occasion for the legislative change last year were penalties imposed by the Independent Party Transparency Senate (UPTS) against the ÖVP, NEOS, and the Greens for impermissible party donations. The exemption introduced at that time for the management of official channels has now been extended to another group of people.

With the current number of seven state secretaries in the federal government, the scope of the amendment is limited, but it concerns precisely that group of people that was at the center of the UPTS assessment. The inclusion of this group in the existing exemption regulation is seen by observers as a logical consequence of the previous legislation.

A corresponding amendment to the Political Parties Act is contained in the Budget Accompanying Act, as 'Profil' now reported. The federal government is thus following a line that the Court of Audit and the UPTS had laid out in their audits and decisions, without fully adopting their strict donation logic. (APA, 13.6.2026)