23 Amendments of Maria WALSH related to 2021/2036(INI)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that an independent, impartial, professional and responsible media is a key pillar of democracy; expresses serious concerns about the situation in some Member States whereby media laws allow for greater political interference; Call on the Member States to ensure that media ownership including shareholders is transparent given their role to guarantee media pluralism;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 26 a (new)
Citation 26 a (new)
— having regard to LGBTIQ Equality Strategy (2020-2025) (COM(2020)698),
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is concerned that the current COVID-19 pandemic not only continues to have a significant negative impact on public health, social welfare and the economy, but also entails a serious threat to media freedom; warns that governments across the world could use the coronavirus emergency as an excuse to implement draconian new restrictions on freedom of expression and tighten media censorship; stresses that no EU funds should be allocated to media that is controlled by Member States government ; calls on the Commission to mobilise funds to encourage anti-corruption investigative journalism;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to propose a directive against strategic lawsuits to set minimum standards for all Member States against public participation (SLAPPs) in order to protect independent media and journalists from vexatious lawsuits intended to silence or intimidate them; to provide EU harmonized rules recognising and defining SLAPPs to identify abusive lawsuits and have them dismissed at an early stage; to support at EU level trainings for press publishers’ in-house lawyers to allow them to identify and deal with SLAPPs faced by the company and its editorial team, stresses the need to create an EU fund to support victims of SLAPP; Supports the creation of networks between SLAPP victims so they can coordinate and come together;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas independent journalism and access to pluralistic information are key pillars of democracy; whereas civil society is essential for any democracy to thrive and the shrinking of the space available for civil society work can negatively impact democracies;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Member States to guarantee that the public service media isare free from censorship and political influence including economic pressures; invites the Member States, in this regard, to establish the necessary regulatory frameworks to monitor media ownership and ensure full transparency;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are lawsuits or other legal actions (e.g. injunctions, asset-freezing) based on civil and criminal law, as well as the threats of such actions, with the purpose of preventing reporting on breaches of Union and national law, corruption or other fraudulent practices or of blocking public participation; and freedom of expression and of assembly
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Encourages the Member States to introduce effective measures to ensure better protection for the personal safety of journalists, in particular investigative journalists. Calls on the Member States to adopt preventive measures, such as police protection and availability of schemes providing relocation, safe houses or shelters whenever there is a threat to journalists; emphasises that ensuring the safety of journalists is paramount to ensuring that democracy and freedom of expression is protected;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Encourages the Member States to introduce effective measures to ensure better protection for the personal safety of journalists, in particular investigative journalists.; calls on the Commission and the Member States to present legislative and non-legislative proposals to protect journalist resources;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Supports essential training for journalists from minority groups so that they are not silenced; Stresses that various cultures should be visible in the mainstream media of Member States;
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Calls on the Member States and media organisations to support and develop incentive measures, for the equal representation of women and men in the profession at all levels;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7 c. Stresses the need of the regulation of the journalistic profession, by setting specific criteria in all Member States for a person in order to acquire the status of a journalist;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas SLAPPs have become an increasingly widespread practice used against journalists, academics, civil society andhuman rights defenders and civil society organisations, including NGOs, as demonstrated by many cases throughout the Union, such as the chilling case of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was reportedly facing 47 civil and criminal defamation lawsuits, (resulting in the freezing of her assets) on the day of her strongly condemned assassination on 16 October 2017, and the lawsuits her heirs continue to face; whereas other illustrative and alarming cases include Realtid Media, which was repeatedly threatened with a lawsuit in a different jurisdiction from where the reporting in question took place, and Gazeta Wyborcza, which continues to be sued by a number of public entities and officials on a regular basis;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy acknowledges that civil society organisations protecting and advancing the rights of LGBTIQ people increasingly report that they face hostility, coinciding with the rise of the anti-gender (and anti- LGBTIQ) movement; whereas LGBTI activists are often the targets of defamation campaigns due to their advocacy work for LGBTI equality; whereas Polish activists such as the ‘Atlas of Hate’ group and the creator of the ‘LGBT-free zone’ photo project (Bart Staszewski) are currently facing several SLAPP cases and are liable for dozens of thousands of euros if they lose them;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas SLAPPs against civil society, journalists and human rights defenders often serve the purpose of harassing them and their activities, often causing them to consider whether to continue exercising their freedom of expression or to instead exercise self- censorship and restraint in order to avoid legal repercussions; whereas many civil society organisations, including NGOs, journalists and human rights defenders may consider the trade-off to be too costly and instead opt for self-censorship; whereas this illustrates the ‘chilling effect’ SLAPPs have on those seeking to exercise rights freely;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights that SLAPPs are a direct attack on the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms; underlines that fundamental rights and democracy are linked to upholding the rule of law, and that undermining freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, media freedom and public democratic participation threatens Union values as enshrined in Article 2 of the TEU; welcomes the fact that the rule of law report includes SLAPP lawsuits in its assessment of media freedom and pluralism across the Union, and points to best practices in countering them; calls for the annual report to include a thorough assessment of the legal environment for the media, and investigative journalism in particular as well as the chilling effect that SLAPPs can have on civil society, human rights defenders and activists;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises that public participation also has an important role to play in the proper functioning of the internal market, as it is often through public participation that breaches of Union law, including fundamental rights, corruption and other practices threatening the proper functioning of the internal market are made known to the public;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Highlights that in recent years online hate speech has become increasingly widespread against journalists, NGOs, academics and, civil society organisations, including NGOs, and human rights defenders, including those defending LGBTQIQ rights, thus threatening media freedom, freedom of expression and assembly, as well as public safety given that online hate speech can incite real-worldoffline violence;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that SLAPPs are often meritless, frivolous or based on exaggerated claims, and that they are not initiated for the purposes of obtaining a favourable judicial outcome but rather only to intimidate, harass, tire out, put psychological pressure on or consume the financial resources of journalists, academics, civil society and NGOs,organisations, including NGOs, and human rights defenders with the ultimate objective of blackmailing and forcing them into silence through the judicial procedure itself; points out that this chilling effect can lead to self- censorship, suppressing participation in democratic life, and also discourages others from similar actions, from entering into these professions or from proceeding with relevant associated activities;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses, with regard to this problem, that all Member States lack harmonised minimum standards to protect journalists, academics, civil society and NGOorganisations, including NGOs, and human rights defenders and to ensure that fundamental rights are upheld in the Member States;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Agrees with the numerous civil society organisations, academics, legal practitioners and victims who point to the need for legislative action against the growing problem of SLAPPs; urgently calls, therefore, for the Brussels I and Rome II Regulations to be amendments in order to prevent ‘libel tourism’ or ‘forum shopping’; urgently calls for the introduction of a uniform choice of law rule for defamation, as well as for proposals for binding Union legislation on harmonised and effective safeguards for victims of SLAPPs across the Union, including through a directive; argues that without such legislative action, SLAPPs will continue to threaten the rule of law and the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, assembly, association and information in the Union; is concerned that if measures only address lawsuits regarding infordefamation, actions based on other civil matters or criminal procedures may still be used;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Considers that it is essential to adopt a legislative measure protecting the role of journalists, academics, civil society andhuman rights defenders and civil society organisations, including NGOs, in preventing breaches of Union law and ensuring the proper functioning of the internal market; urges the Commission to present a proposal for legislation that sets out safeguards for persons investigating and reporting on these matters of public interest;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Underlines the urgent need for a robust fund for supporting victims of SLAPPs; stresses the importance for victims and potential victims of SLAPPs to have easy and accessible information about these type of cases, legal aid and support;