Media freedom legislation in force on Friday

European Media Freedom legislation comes into full force this Friday, with new rules to better protect journalists, their sources, and press freedom in the digital age.

In February 2024, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted the EU executive's proposal, establishing new rules to protect media freedom and the independence of journalists in the 27 Member States.

The regulation has been progressively in force in EU countries since May 2024, while its main provisions will begin to apply from this Friday, August 8.

EU legislation increases transparency in media ownership and the allocation of state advertising, strengthens the independence of public media, and ensures strong protection for journalists and their sources.

Authorities are prohibited from pressuring journalists and editors to reveal their sources, including through detention, sanctions, office searches, or the installation of intrusive surveillance software on their electronic devices.

To prevent public media from being used for political purposes, their directors and board members must be selected through transparent and non-discriminatory procedures for sufficiently long terms of office, and it is not possible to dismiss them before the end of their contract unless they no longer meet professional criteria.

Public media must be financed through clear and objective procedures and the financing must be sustainable and predictable.

To ensure the public knows who controls the media and whose interests influence information, all news and current affairs organizations, regardless of size, must publish information about their ownership in a national database, including whether they are directly or indirectly owned by the state.

To ensure visibility and pluralism, digital platforms must refrain from arbitrarily removing or restricting independent media content, and a mechanism has been created to prevent very large online platforms, such as Facebook, X or Instagram, from arbitrarily restricting or removing independent media content.

Platforms will first have to distinguish independent media from non-independent sources.

Social media outlets will be notified of the platform's intention to remove or restrict their content and will have 24 hours to respond.

Only after the response, or lack thereof, can the platform delete or restrict the content if it continues to fail to comply with its conditions.