The European Parliament (EP) today adopted its negotiating position on the Media Freedom Act, on the basis of which it asks EU member states to ensure pluralism and protect the independence of the media from any kind of interference, as well as the confidentiality of journalistic sources.

Specifically, the EP’s negotiating position on the European act on media freedom was approved with 448 votes in favor, 102 against and 75 abstentions.

MEPs call for a ban on all forms of media interference and measures should be taken so that journalists are not pressured, such as not being forced to reveal their sources, not be forced to give access to encrypted material on their devices and not be allowed to be monitored by spyware. Spyware should only be used as a last resort in specific cases, where there is an order from an independent judicial authority investigating serious crimes such as terrorism and human trafficking.

Transparency regarding media ownership

In order to better assess the independence of the media, Parliament calls for all media outlets, including very small businesses in the sector, to be required to make public information about their ownership status. MEPs also want to oblige media, online platforms and search engines to disclose information about the money they receive from government advertising and aid. These should also include information about the money they receive from non-EU countries.

Rules against arbitrary decisions by big platforms

To ensure that content control decisions taken by very large online platforms do not restrict media freedom, the European Parliament calls for a mechanism to be set up to manage online content takedown orders. Platforms should first process statements from the media themselves in order to determine which of them are independent and which are not. The media should then be informed of the platform’s intention to delete or limit content they have published and given 24 hours to respond. If after 24 hours the platform still considers that the content published by the media outlet does not comply with its terms and conditions, it will be able to delete it, restrict access to it, or refer the case to the national regulatory authority, in order to make that final decision without delay. In case the relevant media considers that the decision of the platform is not sufficiently justified and undermines the freedom of the media, it will be able to request an extrajudicial resolution of the dispute.

Financial viability

According to the EP, Member States should ensure that public media are funded in an adequate, sustainable and predictable manner through multi-annual budgets.

In order to ensure that the media do not become dependent on state advertising, Parliament proposes to establish a cap on the state advertising expenditure that can be directed to any audiovisual media service provider, online platform or search engine. In particular, they propose that this expenditure cannot exceed 15% of the total advertising budget managed by the competent authority in each EU country. The MEPs also request that the criteria on the basis of which state funds are allocated to the media be publicly accessible.

Independent EU media body

In addition, Parliament calls on the European Media Services Council, a new EU body to be established under the Media Freedom Act; to be legally and operationally independent from the European Commission. Finally, MEPs are calling for the creation of an independent “expert group” representing the media industry and civil society to advise this new council.

The Council of the EU (the member states) adopted its own negotiating position in June 2023 and negotiations can now begin with the European Parliament for the final approval of the Media Freedom Act.