EU Commission wants to expand protection of the press

The EU Commission wants to present its draft for a new media freedom law this week. The “European Media Freedom Act” aims to better protect journalists from surveillance.

Only on Friday does the EU Commission intend to present its draft for a new European media freedom law. However, the French Medium Contexte has the document was already leaked in advance, how Netzpolitik.org reported.

What is the EU Commission planning for the new Media Freedom Act?

With its new media freedom law, the EU Commission wants to increase the protection of journalists in particular. In particular, it is about government surveillance or influencing reporting.

But that’s not all. In order to implement these, the EU wants to generally prohibit press representatives and their relatives from being arrested, searched, punished or monitored in order to locate their sources.

But there should also be exceptions to this. Because surveillance that takes place “in the public interest” is excluded from this. State Trojans should only be used when national security is at risk or when serious crimes are to be investigated.

Why is the EU Commission backing the new Media Freedom Act?

In the draft law, the EU Commission describes the media sector as an “important and dynamic branch of the economy”, which is an essential prerequisite for “economic freedoms and fundamental rights”.

Independent media, especially news media, provide access to a variety of opinions and are reliable sources of information for citizens and businesses alike.

Journalism is “essential for the functioning of our democratic societies and economies”. The media would become “increasingly international” as a result of digitization. Therefore, the draft law aims to solve the problems that arise as a result.

Freedom of the press in the focus of the EU Commission

With the new European media freedom law, the EU Commission would offer a uniform framework for European media for the first time. The law is intended to remove obstacles for media companies “that hinder their activities”. According to the draft, these include “different national regulations and procedures in relation to media freedom and pluralism”.

Because not all EU countries are in the same good position when it comes to freedom of the press. For this reason, editorial secrecy is to be legally protected from state surveillance at EU level for the first time.

The law also provides for a complaints office. Because the press representatives must have an “independent national body” available for complaints. If the complaints office cannot help, those affected should be given the opportunity to bring their concerns to the European Court of Justice for the first time.

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