Activities of Jens ROHDE related to 2017/2209(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on media pluralism and media freedom in the European Union
Amendments (13)
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes with regret that insufficient attention has been paid to the concentration of media ownership in Member States; recalls that EU competition rules play an important role in preventing the creation or abuse of dominant positions; calls therefore on the Member States and local authorities to monitor media concentration and to provide easily accessible information on media ownership and economic influence over the media landscape;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. The independence of the press covers both public and private media; highlights in this regard the importance of ethical codes for journalists and editors; such ethical codes shall encompass the duty to verify information and sources; stresses that the dissemination of content online needs to apply the same duty of care than dissemination offline; is concerned in this regard that standards seem to be lowered in a rapidly changing online environment where quantity and promptness and clickbaits seems more important than accurateness;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is concerned about the legislative and administrative measures used intaken by certain Member States to restrain and control their media, including public media channels, directly or indirectly; stresses that the fundamental principle of editorial independence from the governments and/or from political or commercial interests shouldmust be protected; underlines that theany coverage of election campaigning should be fair, balanced, and impartial and systematically monitored;; urges Member States to adhere to the recommendations and resolutions by the Council of Europe as regards public media independence and recalls the European standards laid down in the Treaties in this respect; stresses that supervision of public service media must be exercised by independent bodies and not directly by political institutions, such as a government; moreover, in cases of state financed public service media, editorial independence must be guaranteed
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is concerned about the legislative and administrative measures used in certain Member States to restrain and control the media, directly or indirectly, especially in the public media sector; stresses that the fundamental principle of editorial independence from the government and from political or commercial interests should be protected; underlines that the coverage of election campaigning should be fair, balanced, impartial and systematically monitored;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. UnderlinNotes that whistle-blowers arcting on reasonable ground can be a crucial resource for investigative journalism and thus contribute to an independent press; calls on the Commission therefore to provide EU-wide protection in accordance with the treaties and the Union objectives of democracy, pluralism of opinion and freedom of expression; the protection of whistle-blowers goes hand in hand with the confidentiality of their sources, however, balanced with the fundamental rights of the accused natural and legal persons;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Underlines that false accusations or misleading information can have far reaching effects for people and businesses; recalls that in the event of false accusations,those responsible should be held accountable for their action and not benefit from whistle-blower protection; stresses that any person who is defamed by inaccurate or misleading information needs to be afforded effective redress mechanisms;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Points out that, especially in the era of the Internet, one false accusation based on unchecked information can destroy whole businesses and people’s lives
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Highlights that the fight against ‘fake news’, namely false news and other disinformation spread deliberately via the media, sdeliberate misinformation created or spread in order to make financial or political gains, so called ‘fake news’, break the relationship of trust between the media and citizens and have a potential to endanger liberal democracies as well as to undermine our democratic values such as freedom of expression and the rule of law; as social media has made the circulation of such fake information much easier than in the traditional media, solutions need to be found to hould not result in restricting freedom of internet usage; calls for the Member States and EU institutions to devote sufficient resources to tackling disinformation; is satisfied with the work of the East StratCom Task Force and the establishment of the High Level Expert Groupauthors of fake news accountable for their action in digital media as is the case in the offline world; stresses that strict regulation or censorship of thoughts and views cannot be the response, but that rather assurance of reliability of information and educated, critically thinking citizens as well as media literacy form part of the solution; calls for the Member States and EU institutions to devote sufficient resources to tackling disinformation; highlights in this respect the need for media consumers to be able to distinguish between facts and pure opinions; stresses that the EEAS Strategic Communication Division and in particular the current East StratCom Task Force actively contributing to the development and implementation of a strategy against dissemination onf fake news needs and online disinformationverall upscale and reinforced resources to carry out its tasks properly.
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Welcomes the Commission’s announcement to prepare a strategy to counter fake news, to be published in due course
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Highlights the need for Member States to complement EU efforts to counter fake news and to engage at all levels, including in cooperation with the EU neighbourhood, to foster a pluralistic media environment to communicate EU policies truthfully, coherently and comprehensively,
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Emphasizes that principles of media freedom, freedom of speech and media pluralism are as relevant for pre- accession countries and the European Neighbourhood area as it is for member states; calls on the Commission to ensure that these principles are strengthened and adequately monitored in these countries and that assistance programs are made contingent upon adherence to these principles.