2023-12-16 11:23:04
Published on Dec 16 2023 at 9:23Updated Dec 16 2023 at 12:23
This is the first time that Europe has legislated to strengthen media freedom. And it was not an easy task… On Friday, legislators sealed an agreement on their law intended to better protect the independence and pluralism of the media, which has sparked much controversy.
Proposed in 2022, this text first targets European Union countries such as Hungary or Poland, where the press situation is catastrophic.
It provides for measures to protect the sources of journalists, guarantee the independence, in particular of public media, avoid the arbitrary deletion of content by large platforms, and even transparency obligations on media ownership and government .
It also creates a European Media Council to more strictly regulate concentrations that undermine pluralism.
But, ironically, certain provisions of the text made the defenders of this freedom of the press scream, first and foremost the introduction of a national security exception, in order to be able to monitor journalists…
National security exception removed
It was France – followed by other countries, such as Hungary, Greece, Finland, Sweden – which, demanding this measure, sparked a great controversy. In vain, ultimately, since the final text no longer mentions national security…
Reporters Without Borders, which revealed a note from the French Ministries of the Armed Forces and the Interior showing that Paris wanted to monitor journalists, particularly to identify foreign agents, welcomed this.
Concretely, if the law prohibits forcing journalists to reveal their sources and using intrusive surveillance software once morest them, it provides for exemptions “in the event of serious crimes”, specified Sabine Verheyen, EPP MEP, rapporteur of the text to Parliament, which fought to impose safeguards.
It also requires prior authorization from a judicial authority. “There can be no abuse of spyware to access journalists’ sources or put pressure on them,” explained the Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova.
The subject is all the more sensitive in France as the recent case of the custody of the journalist from Disclose, Ariane Lavrilleux, is perceived, by the profession, as a violation of the confidentiality of sources.
“Dangerous precedent”
Another controversial measure is the obligation for social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook, to give 24 hours’ notice and the possibility of appeal, before removing articles from verified media.
“A dangerous precedent”, for the CCIA Europe, one of the main tech lobbies, for which “malicious actors posing as legitimate media will now be able to disseminate harmful content for 24 hours”.
The agreed text must now be formally approved by the European Parliament and member states. For renew MEP Ramona Strugariu, if it “is not perfect”, it constitutes a “huge victory” thanks to the legal guarantees offered to journalists. “This will remain in the years to come, because I fear that we have not yet seen the worst…” she said.
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