27 Amendments of Maria WALSH related to 2020/2009(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5
Citation 5
— having regard to the work carried out by the Council of Europe to promote the protection and safety of journalists, including Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)1[1] of the Committee of Ministers to member states on media pluralism and transparency of media ownership and the declaration by the Committee of Ministers on the financial sustainability of quality journalism in the digital age, and the Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4[1] of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 a (new)
Citation 5 a (new)
— having regard to the Joint Communication of 10 June 2020 entitled ‘Tackling COVID-19 disinformation - Getting the facts right’ (JOIN(2020) 8 final),
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
— having regard to the Commission’s Code of Practice to fight online disinformation, agreed on 26 September 2018,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
— having regard to the Council conclusions of 26 May 2020 on media literacy in an ever-changing world,
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas journalists and other media actors continue to be at risk of violence, threats, harassment, pressure, (self-) censorship, public shaming and even assassination in the EU as a result of their investigative activities to protect the public interest; whereas women journalists face gender-specific forms of violence, such as sexual and online harassment, whereas more than 70% of women working in the media have experienced more than one type of harassment, threat, or attack online; whereas 52% of women have experienced these types of offence in the past year alone;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas in addition to violence, intimidation and harassment of journalists there is lack of prosecution of the perpetrators of these crimes and impunity leads to a chilling effect; whereas OSCE reports that impunity prevails as e.g. less than 15% of murders of journalists in the OSCE region are solved;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the global COVID-19 crisis is having a devastating social and economic impact on the media sector; whereas media outlets have been reporting considerable losses in their revenue from advertising, whereas thousands of media workers have already lost, or are at risk of losing their jobs, either temporarily or permanently, whereas this has particularly strong impact on freelance journalists whose number is increasing throughout the EU and who constitute already a significant part of all journalists in Europe; whereas financial sustainability of the job and financial independence are a crucial part of press freedom;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the internet and social media play a role in spreading hate speech and fostering radicalisation leading to violent extremism, through the circulation of illegal content; whereas combating all forms of intolerance is an integral part of human-rights protection as developed by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the AVMSD obliges the authorities in every Member State to ensure that audiovisual media services do not contain any incitement to hatred based on race, sex, religion or nationality; whereas the AVMSD obliges Member States to ensure the independence of media regulators;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the spread of false news and disinformation available via social media or search websites poses a threat to freedom of speech and expression and the independence of the media, and has strongly impaired the credibility of the traditional media; whereas data analysis and algorithms have an increasing impact on the information made accessible to citizens;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas disinformation related to COVID-19 may cause panic and social unrest and needs to be addressed; whereas measures to combat disinformation cannot be used as a pretext for introducing disproportionate restrictions on press freedom; whereas reports indicate that coordinated campaigns have been running across EU Member States and neighbouring regions, promoting false health information and disinformation about the EU and its partners; whereas the Commission addresses these phenomena in its recent joint communication on tackling COVID-19 disinformation;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Highlights the irreplaceable role of public service media and stresses that it is essential to ensure and maintain their independence from political interference; highlights as well the need to ensure the financial independence and the conditions for the sustainability of the activities of private market operators to avoid media capture; reiterates in this context Parliament’s call for an ambitious EU media action plan; condemns attempts by Member State governments to silence critical media and undermine media freedom and pluralism, in particular attempts to control public service media; deplores the fact that in some Member States public broadcasting has become an example of single political party propaganda, which often excludes opposition and minority groups from society and even incites violence; draws attention to the recommendations included in the Resolution 2255 (2019) of PACE that calls on the Member States to guarantee editorial independence, as well as sufficient and stable funding, for public service media; stresses that safeguarding independent authorities and ensuring strong independent oversight of audiovisual media against undue state and commercial intervention is crucial; calls on the Commission to present a legal framework to supervise the operation of public service media providers, including whether they fulfil the criteria of prudent management and task-based financing, and if their services fulfil the expectations of fact-based, fair and ethical journalism;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Reiterates its concern that few specific legal or policy frameworks protecting journalists and media workers from violence, threats and intimidation can be identified at national level within the EU; calls on the Member States and the Commission to ensure the effective protection and safety of journalists and other media actors as well as of their sources, including in a cross-border context; reiterates its call to Member States to take a gender-sensitive approach when considering measures to address the safety of journalists; strongly reiterates its call on the Commission to present proposals to prevent so-called ‘Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation’ (SLAPP);
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Reiterates its concern that few specific legal or policy frameworks protecting journalists and media workers from violence, threats and intimidation can be identified at national level within the EU; calls on the Member States and the Commission to ensure the effective protection and safety of journalists and other media actors as well as of their sources, including in a cross-border context; strongly reiterates its call on the Commission to present proposals to prevent so-called ‘Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation’ (SLAPP) which can be used explicitly to silence or intimidate journalists and create a climate of fear on their reporting of certain topics;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that excessive concentration of the content-producing and content-distributing sectors may threaten citizens’ access to a range of content; underlines that media pluralism, which depends on the existence of a diversity of media ownership and of content as well as independent journalism, is key to challenging the spread of disinformation and ensuring that EU citizens are well- informed; reminds that according to the Media Pluralism Monitor conclusions the media ownership concentration remains one of the most significant risks to media pluralism and is seen as creating barriers to the diversity of information; calls on the Commission to monitor the implementation at Member States level of existing EU instruments against ownership concentration and illegal state aid to increase diversity in the media landscape;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to urgently introduce EU and national emergency recovery packages to protect the jobs and livelihoods of media workers, support companies and fund public service media through the COVID- 19 crisiseconomic recovery plan; stresses that in the face of the pandemic European citizens need professional, economically secure and independent journalists; reiterates in this context its call for the creation of a permanent European fund for journalists in the framework of the next MFF (2021- 2027), as redrafted following the COVID- 19 crisis, offering direct financial support for independent journalists and media outlets, freelancers and self-employed media workers; reiterates also in this context its call for an ambitious EU media action plan to support the development of a vibrant and pluralistic media landscape;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Strongly welcomes the allocation of EU funds to start projects, such as the Europe-wide rapid response mechanism for violations of press and media freedom and a cross-border investigative journalism fund in order to strengthen media freedom and pluralism;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Condemns all types of incidents of hate crime and hate speech both offline and online, that occur regularly within the EU and recalls that racist and xenophobic speech are not covered by the freedom of expression;;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Reiterates its call on the Member States to takimplement and enforce further measures to prevent, condemn and counter hate speech and hate crime, so as to fight organisations that spread hate speech and violence in public spaces and online;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Points out that Member States must ensure, by all appropriate means, that the media, including online and social media, as well as advertising, are free from all incitement to violence or hatred directed against any person or group of persons and that this can have a direct effect on the participation in civil society of these individuals; points out that xenophobia is the most commonly reported ground of hate speech; reiterates its call on the Commission, the Member States and social media companies to counteract the spread of racism, xenophobia and LGBTI-phobia on the internet, in cooperation with the relevant civil society organisations;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes that the new digital environment has exacerbated the problem of the spread of disinformation and has resulted in online platforms playing an influential role in publishing, disseminating and promoting news and other media content; reiterates its concern about the potential threat disinformation poses to freedom of expression and the, democratic discourse, independence of the media and public health;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Underlines that disinformation and sensationalised media reports relating to the COVID-19 emergency have also been used by extreme right-wing and populist groups and politicians to target minority groups and contribute to anti- immigration rhetoric, which has led to increased instances of racist and xenophobic hate speech, as well as discrimination;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Points out that different forms of misinformation and disinformation, as well as other forms of information manipulation relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, continue to proliferate around the world and have potentially harmful consequences for public security, health and effective crisis management; recalls that all measures to combat disinformation, including those taken in the context of the COVID-19 emergency, need to be necessary, proportionate, transparent and subject to regular oversight, and may under no circumstances prevent journalists and media actors from carrying out their work or lead to content being unduly blocked on the internet; deplores that certain online platforms remove professional journalistic content based on non-transparent terms and conditions which unnecessarily limit the freedom of expression;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Welcomes the Commission’s initiative to present a European Democracy Action Plan that aims to counter disinformation and to adapt to evolving threats and manipulations, as well as to support free and, independent and financially viable media; emphasises in this respect that protecting free and independent media while combating hate speech and disinformation is a fundamental factor in terms of the defence of the rule of law and democracy in the EU; welcomes the creation of the European Digital Media Observatory, a digital platform to help fighting disinformation;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Reminds the Commission and the Member States as well as the private sector, in particular online platforms, and civil society as a whole of the need for joint action when it comes to the fight against disinformation, and acknowledges the positive and necessary, yet still insufficient, impact of the voluntary actions taken by service providers and platforms to counter disinformation;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to improve media literacy through support for educational initiatives aimed at both students and professional educators, as well as through targeted awareness-raising campaigns within civil society, highlights that media literacy is an increasingly essential and critical skill for the modern citizen and consumer and recalls its fundamental role as one of the primary solutions to growing disinformation- and hate speech-related issues;