German court allows federal health portal to remain online

The Administrative Court of Cologne has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to shut down the German Federal Ministry of Health’s national health portal, gesund.bund.de. The ruling follows a legal challenge by the Wort & Bild Verlag, a private publisher that operates the health website apotheken-umschau.de.

The publisher argued that the state-run portal provides free, scientifically verified health information that competes directly with its private media offerings, thereby violating the principle of state distance from the press (Staatsferne der Presse).

However, the court ruled that the publisher lacked the necessary legal standing to bring the claim. The court stated that while the principle of state distance from the media is intended to protect the democratic process of opinion formation from state influence, it does not grant an individual publisher a subjective public right to seek an injunction against the government. Consequently, the court did not rule on whether the portal itself violates media independence principles. An appeal against this decision is possible before the Higher Administrative Court in Münster.