Delegates vouching for increased protection of journalists and media outlets in Europe
A new regulation about media transparency and independence has been accepted by the European Parliament on a Tuesday vote. Its objective is to keep the masses well-informed and maintain viability of the media as a sector.
New Media Freedom Act
According to the website of the European Parliament, the amendment is expected to promote the various perspectives of society and to guard the sovereignty of media from any political, financial, economical or personal influence. Members of Parliament are defending journalists from violations such as: revealing their sources, being observed by spywares, such as Pegasus, or access to their top-secret contents. The first step in analysing the situation is to clarify who are the owners behind each media outlet. Therefore, the EU regulation would obligate companies to make this crucial information public. Other information concerning state advertisements and financial support might also become available.
BigTech decisions may also mean a threat to media sovereignty, and the European Parliament tries to regulate this overwhelming power by various mechanisms in order to control arbitrary content removals. First and foremost, these mechanisms differentiate between independent and non- independent media outlets, and in the case of a possible content removal it obligates online platforms to send a notification to the participant 24 hour beforehand, providing the necessary time for a reaction. After the 24 hours, the platform has the right to delete the post, article in question, however, the participant is able to file an appeal based on just basic principles, such as the freedom of media.
Ownership transparency
MEPs believe that every state member is responsible to provide the necessary, reasonable funds to media outlets in the given country with a clear and calculable annual budget plan. The idea is to prevent online platforms to become digital billboards and eliminate the dependency on governmental contracts by using merely the 15% of the funds for advertising activities, which amount is predetermined by the local authorities. The list of conditions about public money divisions of the state should also become traceable and public. The European Commission opts for establishing a new, independently managed institution in order to oversee how above regulations and mechanisms are being delegated. In addition, the complex job of the new organisation is helped by an independent group of people, whose members would be chosen among professionals of the media sector and the civil sphere.
According to Sabrina Verheyen, rapporteur (EPP, Germany) Europe cannot turn a blind eye to the concerning situation of the freedom of media across the globe. Verheyen emphasises that the question of the media sector is not merely an economical question, simply because media contributes deeply to our education, cultural processes and social changes. “Today, the parliament has demonstrated its strong commitment to the protection of free media,” she added while regarding the amendment as a ‘milestone’. Now, that the amendment has been accepted by the members of Parliament, a discussion starts about its precise phrasing with the help of the European Council.
Author: Zsófi Ökrös
“Keep masses well informed.” LOL!!! They mean keep brainwashing the gullible. Give me a break. The “media” need no protections. They already have a ridiculously privileged status, which they routinely abuse by acting as the campaign arm for certain (Leftist, globalist-socialist, of course) political and sociological agenda. If anything, stricter regulations need to be enacted to ensure neutrality and objectivity of what used to be called “the Press.” That’s never going to happen, naturally, because those in power are the ones who benefit from the Leftist media.
Its great that EU is promoting stricter regulations to ensure transparency of media. Whether it is left/right/whatever that the media outlet campaigns for, the public should be well informed about it. Transparency in media outlets´ funding and ownership helps with this.
Media is the watchdog of democracy and this is not happening when government (or some other interest group) directly or indirectly controls the media. Hopefully with transparency implemented, consumers of media outlets will turn to more independent and unbiased media outlets to receive information from and use less of the media that have a clear left/right/whatever agenda.