Germany has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

NetzDG establishes broad requirements for dealing with illegal content and user complaints. Under §3 of the law, platform operators have to remove or block manifestly illegal content within 24 hours after receiving a complaint unless otherwise agreed with the competent law enforcement agency. Other illegal content has to be blocked or removed seven days after receiving a complaint unless the decision whether the content is illegal is contingent on the veracity of a factual claim or the provider has put in place an independent body dealing with these claims. These procedures have to respect due process. Providers who receive more than 100 complaints per year have to submit two reports on these procedures each year (§2 NetzDG). The law has faced criticism from various human rights groups, the United Nations and the Council of Europe, among others. Criticisms include the potential undermining of freedom of speech and expression, vague definitions and arbitrary criteria for removal of content, and disproportionate sanctions for failing to comply.

Art. 17 of Directive 2019/790 on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive) mandates that providers of content-sharing services seek authorisation from rights holders and implement technical solutions to remove and prevent unauthorised uploads by their users (so-called upload filters) under penalty of losing their liability safe harbour. Further arrangements are envisaged for complaints and dispute resolution mechanisms. Such upload filters are reported to be a significant cost for online platforms. Graduated exemptions are expected to be put in place for new providers active in the EU for less than three years with a turnover under EUR 10 million, and with fewer than five million users. The provision is subject to a challenge in the Court of Justice by Poland (C-401/19).
To implement Directive 2019/790, the Bundestag has adopted the Act on the Adaptation of Copyright Law to the Requirements of the Digital Single Market, therefore making online content-sharing service providers partially liable for copyright violations on their platforms.

The EU Directive on Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) covers traditional broadcasting services as well as audiovisual media services provided on-demand, including via the Internet. Art. 13.1 provides for Member States to secure a minimum 30% share of European works in the catalogues as well as "ensuring prominence" of those works. "Prominence" involves promoting European works by facilitating access to such works using any appropriate means to ensure their prominence. The Directive has been implemented by Member States in different ways, ranging from very extensive and detailed measures to a mere reference to the general obligation to promote European works.
In Germany, the EU Directive was transposed into domestic law through the Interstate Treaty on Broadcasting and Telemedia. According to Art. 77 of the Treaty, to represent the diversity in the German-speaking and European regions and to promote European film and television productions, providers of television-like telemedia (VOD) must ensure that the proportion of European works in their catalogues is at least 30%.

§9b of the Act on the Federal Office for Information Security requires that critical components register with the Federal Ministry of the Interior before their first use. The use of these components can be prohibited on three grounds: if the producer is controlled by a third state government, its military or other public authorities, directly or indirectly; if the producer has previously been involved in activities with negative consequences on the public safety or order of the Federal Republic of Germany, other member states of the EU, the European Economic Area or the North Atlantic Treaty; or if the use of the critical component is in contradiction with the security interests of the Federal Republic of Germany, the EU or the North Atlantic Treaty.

The Directive 2000/31/EC (E-Commerce Directive) is the legal basis governing the liability of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) in the EU Member States and includes a conditional safe harbour. Not all Member States have transposed the relevant articles consistently, leading to divergent national case law that could cause legal insecurity on an EU level.
Under §7-10 of the Telemedia Act, there are liability exemptions for intermediaries in cases where these have not actively triggered a transmission, chosen its recipient, where they have no knowledge of illegal content or activities or where they immediately remove related content. This broadens the scope of Art. 14 of the EU E-Commerce Directive, which only refers to "knowledge".

The Directive 2000/31/EC (E-Commerce Directive) is the legal basis governing the liability of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) in the EU Member States and includes a conditional safe harbour. Not all Member States have transposed the relevant articles consistently, leading to divergent national case law that could cause legal insecurity on an EU level.
Under §7-10 of the Telemedia Act, there are liability exemptions for intermediaries in cases where these have not actively triggered a transmission, chosen its recipient, where they have no knowledge of illegal content or activities or where they immediately remove related content. This broadens the scope of Art. 14 of the EU E-Commerce Directive, which only refers to "knowledge".

It is reported that Germany imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card or a passport in case of foreigners to activate a new prepaid SIM card.

The Directive 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) is key in harmonising national laws concerning trade secrets. Germany transposed the Directive in 2018, as well as with the Law transposing Directive (EU) 2016/943 on the protection of trade secrets against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure.

It is reported that passive sharing is mandated and practised both in the mobile and fixed sectors. To bolster mobile coverage and stimulate infrastructure sharing for MFCN, the Federal Network Agency imposed a specific obligation as part of the frequency award decision BK1-17/001. Upon request by other nationwide assignment holders, assignment holders must, in compliance with telecommunications and antitrust law, engage in negotiations on the shared use of existing nationwide networks (roaming) and about infrastructure sharing. The negotiations should be non-discriminatory. Infrastructure sharing is practised in Germany in the fixed sector and in the mobile sector.
In addition, Directive 2014/61/EU (Art. 3.2) establishes that Member States shall ensure that, upon written request of an undertaking providing or authorised to provide public communications networks, any network operator must meet all reasonable requests for access to its physical infrastructure under fair and reasonable terms and conditions, including price, with a view to deploying elements of high-speed electronic communications networks. Such written request shall specify the elements of the project for which the access is requested, including a specific time frame.

It is reported that the German State holds over a 30% stake in Deutsche Telekom AG. This stake includes 13.8% owned by the Federal Republic and 16.6% by KfW Bankengruppe, a state-owned investment and development bank. Deutsche Telekom AG, based in Germany, is one of the largest telecommunications providers in Europe, operating in over 50 countries worldwide.

It is reported that Germany does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, accounting separation applies to SMP operators in some wholesale markets (e.g. IP bitstream + fibre LLU).

It is reported that the Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Section 393 of the German Social Security Code V establishes a requirement for local processing of social and health data via cloud computing services. It stipulates that such processing may only occur within Germany, within a member state of the European Union, or in a third country deemed adequate under Art. 45 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or equivalent provisions, provided that the data-processing entity maintains an establishment in Germany. Section 80 of the Social Security Code X and Section 4.3 of the Digital Health Applications Ordinance impose similar geographical restriction on the processing of social data and data related to digital health applications.

Pursuant to Section 146 of the Fiscal Code, financial accounts and records must be kept within Germany. Exceptionally, the competent revenue authority may authorise the storage of electronic accounts data outside of Germany if certain conditions are met (e.g., information is given about the location of the data processing and name of the third party processor; the data remains fully accessible and taxation is not hampered).