According to the new law, adopted by 464 votes in favor, 92 against and 65 abstentions, member states will be required to protect the independence of the media and any form of intervention in editorial decisions will be prohibited.
Protecting the work of journalists
Authorities will be prohibited from pressuring journalists and editors to disclose their sources, including by arresting them, imposing sanctions on them, raiding their offices or installing intrusive surveillance software on their devices electronic.
Parliament added important guarantees to allow the use of spyware, which will only be possible on a case-by-case basis and subject to authorization from a judicial authority investigating serious offenses punishable by a custodial sentence of freedom. Even in these cases, subjects will have the right to be informed after the surveillance and can challenge it in court.
Editorial independence of public media
To prevent public media from being used for political purposes, their presidents and board members should be chosen according to transparent and non-discriminatory procedures for sufficiently long mandates. It will not be possible to dismiss them before the end of their contract, unless they no longer meet professional criteria.
Public media should be funded through transparent and objective procedures, and funding should be sustainable and predictable.
Ownership transparency
To allow the public to know who controls the media and whose interests may influence reporting, all news and current affairs media outlets, regardless of their size, will be required to publish information about their owners in a national database, including including whether they belong directly or indirectly to the State.
Equitable distribution of public advertising
Media will also have to account for funds received through public advertising and state financial support, including from third countries.
Public funds intended for media or online platforms must be allocated according to public, proportionate and non-discriminatory criteria. Information on state advertising spending will be public, including the total annual amount and the amount per outlet.
Protecting EU media freedom from big platforms
MEPs made sure to include a mechanism to prevent very large online platforms, such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram, from arbitrarily restricting or removing content from independent media. The platforms will first have to distinguish independent media from non-independent sources. Media outlets would be notified when the platform intends to remove or restrict their content and would have 24 hours to respond. Only after the response (or in the absence of a response) can the platform remove or restrict the content if it still does not comply with its conditions.
Media will have the opportunity to take the matter to an out-of-court dispute resolution body and seek an opinion from the European Media Services Council (a new European council of national regulators to be set up by the EMFA).
Citations
“We can never emphasize enough the importance of media plurality for a functioning democracy”, rapporteur of the Committee on Culture and Education. Sabine Verheyen (EPP, DE) said during the plenary debate. “Press freedom is under threat all over the world, including in Europe: the assassination in Malta, the threats to press freedom in Hungary and many other examples clearly prove this. The European Media Freedom Act is our response to this threat and an important step in European legislation. It values and protects the dual role of media as businesses and guardians of democracy,” she concluded.
Civil Liberties Committee rapporteur Ramona Strugariu (Renew, RO) said: “Journalists now have an ally, a set of tools that protects them, strengthens their independence and helps them cope with challenges, interference and to the pressure they often face in their work. This regulation is a response to Orbán, Fico, Janša, Putin and those who want to turn the media into their own propaganda tools or spread fake news and destabilize our democracies. No journalist should fear any pressure in the exercise of their profession and in informing citizens.”
Background
By adopting this report, Parliament is responding to citizens’ expectations of the EU, as expressed in the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe:
– introduce legislation to combat threats to media independence and apply EU competition rules in the media sector, in order to prevent large media monopolies, as well as ensuring the pluralism and independence of the media from undue political, commercial and/or foreign interference (Proposition 27(1), (2));
– combat disinformation through legislation and guidelines for online platforms and social media companies (33(5));
– defend and support free, pluralist and independent media and ensure the protection of journalists (37, paragraph 4).
Originally published in The European Times.
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