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EU Commission announcing Media Freedom Act

EU Commission proposing Media Freedom Act to secure media independence

The EU Commission will next year propose a European Media Freedom Act to ensure the integrity and independence of the EU media market, Commissioner Thierry Breton announced at the European News Media Forum in Brussels.

As a background he mentioned how news media is struggling both with financing and with governments using state advertising to indirectly influence news media by refusing to advertise in media criticizing the government. The Commission has recently had discussions about media policy with the governments in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia.

”We want to boost media pluralism and improve the resilience of the sector as a whole. We want to act against all types of unjustified interferences in the activities of our media companies. We need to make sure that there are media pluralism safeguards, including online, so no one grows too big to care about public debate.”

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He said that the European Media Freedom Act will contribute to making the information space more secure. This is a matter of European sovereignty, he said.

”Information, far from being an exception, is a textbook case of interferences from hostile foreign actors.”

The Act will build on the revised audiovisual media services directive and will complement the Digital Services Act package and the recent reform of copyright rules.

”In doing so, we are building a truly comprehensive media policy for the digital age.”

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He announced that the Commission will launch a public consultation about the proposed Act.

He also said the Commission will be working with the European Investment Fund, private investors and foundations to test new models of financial support.

”We are rolling out a media data space and a virtual reality coalition to foster collaboration and innovations, so Europe does not miss the boat of future technological developments, such as data analytics and virtual reality.”

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