Type: Acts of the European Union: European Parliament resolution on media pluralism and media freedom in the European Union

Authority: European Authorities - European Union: European Parliament

Date: 05/03/2018

Subject: The European Parliament calls on the Member States to take appropriate measures, including ensuring adequate public funding, to safeguard and promote a pluralist, independent and free media landscape; asks the Commission to introduce human rights impact assessments for the evaluation of its legislative proposals and to present a proposal for the establishment of an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights; stresses the need to have in place independent monitoring mechanisms to assess the situation of media freedom and media pluralism in the EU; axpresses its deep concern at the abuses, crimes and deadly attacks still being committed against journalists and media workers in the Member States because of their activitiese and calls on Member States to set up an independent and impartial regulatory body, in cooperation with journalists’ organisations, for monitoring, documenting and reporting on violence and threats against journalists and to deal with the protection and safety of journalists at national level; underlines the importance of ensuring adequate working conditions for journalists and media workerse and asks the Commission and the Member States to promote and elaborate new socially sustainable economic models aimed at financing and supporting quality and independent journalism; expresses its concern at the negative and chilling effects that criminal defamation laws might have on the right to freedom of expression, freedom of the press and public debate; calls on the Member States and the Commission to refrain from adopting unnecessary measures aimed at arbitrarily restricting access to the internet and the exercise of basic human rights or at controlling public communications; reiterates that cyberbullying, revenge porn and child sexual abuse material are a growing concern in our societies and can have extremely serious impacts, especially on young people and children, and highlights that the interests and rights of minors must be fully respected in the context of the mass media; stresses that any measures restricting or removing internet content should only be adopted in specified, explicit and legitimate circumstances and under strict judicial oversight, in line with international standards, the case law of the ECtHR, and Article 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; recalls that the use of the term ‘fake news’ should never be aimed at undermining public trust in the media or at discrediting and criminalising critical voices; encourages both the Commission and Member States to invest adequate financial resources in media and digital literacy; reiterates its call on the Commission and the Member States to set up and implement an adequate, advanced and comprehensive framework for common European legislation to protect whistleblowers; calls on the Member States to adopt and implement a media ownership regulation in order to avoid horizontal concentration of ownership in the media sector and indirect and cross-media ownership, and to guarantee transparency, disclosure, and easy accessibility for citizens to information on media ownership, funding sources and management

Classification: Freedoms - Art. 11 Freedom of expression - Freedom of information

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