R1 AM20: Media freedom and independence under attack

The Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) recognises threats to media
freedom and independence.

Organisations such as "Reporters without borders" (RSF) have detected an
increased number of threats against journalists and pressure to interfere in
political reporting. Examples of this influence, especially from national
governments, can be found in the Italian broadcaster Rai and the Hungarian Duna
Média, who tend to provide biased coverage favouring the leading party.

As it is clear that European institutions cannot and should not interfere with
reporting in the single member states, the EU should guarantee the independence
of public broadcasters, which should be reporting neutrally and not for the
single governments.

The EU should impose on public broadcasters of all member states to fulfill
certain criteria to guarantee independent and balanced reporting. Governments
should guarantee editorial independence from the Supervisory board and establish
transparent and objective access mechanisms for journalists who work in public
broadcasters.

Quality journalism is often buried behind advertisements and bot-driven trends
in search engines. Public service media must have the right to findability to be
shown under the top search results. In addition, search engines and social media
platforms should be obligated to ensure algorithmic neutrality towards
democratic content to prevent preferential treatment towards certain media.

Furthermore, the EU should work to build and maintain independent European
digital infrastructures to reduce reliance on US companies. TV-networks like
“arte” should be expanded to other European countries and be supported to reach
a bigger audience and contribute to European integration through common media
platforms.

It is important to not just look at the public media but also to media plurality
in the private sector. In some territories, the media landscape is dominated
almost exclusively by large media groups. In South Tyrol, for instance, Athesia
covers more than 80% of the media landscape and is the media outlet receiving
most public funds in Italy. These conditions make it very hard for independent
media to work properly and reach an audience. In addition, public discussions
are primarily conducted by these large media groups, influencing the political
climate in the region.

In the last few years, the quantity of misinformation and fake news has seen a
considerable increase. A major deterioration happened during the COVID-19
pandemic, fuelled by the spreading of conspiracy "theories". Russia’s war of
aggression against Ukraine is another area that has given rise to disinformation
in Europe. Also concerning is that the Kremlin has used bot-farms and corruption
to influence European elections, such as in Moldova or Hungary. FYEG
acknowledges the European Digital Media Observatory’s critical work, as it shows
that the EU has started to fight misinformation. Nevertheless, disinformation
campaigns continue to evade accountability, particularly on social media
platforms that fail to act on EDMO’s findings.

We must understand that honest and impartial media means finding and reporting the truth, not merely taking a middle ground between opposing views. Sometimes, the facts may challenge common beliefs or political narratives. Ultimately, what separates what is thought of as partisan from what is considered common sense is the amount of support it receives. For this reason, the media has an important role in ensuring that believing and disseminating the truth becomes uncontroversial.

Another problem is that many media outlets have lost trust as they are accused
of pro-government reporting, especially those receiving public financing. These
critics can be justified, as public financing guided by the government may
impair independent journalism. It is fundamental that everyone has accessible
information about public financing to media outlets.

In countries like Italy, so-called SLAPP suits are used to censor, intimidate
and silence critics. Even if the plaintiff does not expect to win the lawsuit,
this burdens journalists with time and costs for a legal defence. This is a
serious limitation of press freedom, as these lawsuits lead to intimidation,
exhaustion and often to self-censorship.

Journalists working in war zones and conflict areas face unprecedented risks,
including targeted killings, arbitrary detention, digital surveillance, and
psychological warfare. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, conflicts in Southwest
Asia, and authoritarian crackdowns in regions like Belarus and Turkey have made
journalism one of the most dangerous professions in the world. Beyond physical
threats, journalists are increasingly targeted by spyware (e.g., Pegasus), legal
persecution, and economic precarity, and the prohibition of access to war zones,
forcing many into self-censorship or exile. The impunity for crimes against
journalists - around 85% of murders remaining unpunished according to UNESCO -
further emboldens perpetrators. While many examples arise, Israel is one of the
worst, having killed 86 journalists in 2025 from a total of 129 globally
according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Without robust
protections, independent reporting from conflict zones will disappear, leaving
war crimes and human rights abuses uncovered and unchallenged.

FYEG also acknowledges the importance of media literacy for a functioning
democratic society. Education is the best way to help young people grow into
well-informed citizens that can distinguish fake news from good information and
populism from well-researched social-media content. Digital and media literacy
also includes the identification of bots, the verification of sources and the
understanding of algorithmic bias.

With all this in mind, we, the Federation of Young European Greens demand that:

• The EU should obligate member states to guarantee an independent financing
  of public broadcasters through licence fees.

• Public broadcasters are owned by an independent foundation, which is
  overseen by a supervisory board. The number of politically nominated
  representatives should not exceed a third and should represent both the
  voted-in majority and the opposition as equally as possible. To fully
  represent the diversity of the country, the rest should be filled with
  representatives of civil society, such as trade unions, religious
  communities, universities, young people, minorities such as migrants and
  representatives of economic and cultural groups. The foundation’s
  supervisory board should not interfere in editorial decisions.

• The Supervisory boards of the public broadcasters themselves should not
  have any politically nominated members but should be elected among the
  broadcasters’ staff and civil society representatives.

• Public service media create independent ombudspeople with binding powers
  to investigate censorship, block political interference, and enforce
  editorial independence.

• Public broadcasters should build and maintain independent European digital
  infrastructures such as a European streaming platform to reduce dependence
  from US tech-companies.

• A 'Right to Findability' for Public Service Media is established on all
  digital interfaces and that Algorithmic Neutrality is ensured for
  democratic content.

• Social media companies must be legally required to label AI-generated
  content and prioritize verified public service media in algorithms during
  elections and crises.

• Social media platforms should be obligated to rigorously delete messages
  spreading hate and racism through content moderators.

• The EU and member states establish mandatory transparency rules for online
  platforms to expose and dismantle bot farms and disinformation networks,
  particularly those linked to foreign interference in elections.

• The EU should empower the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) with
  enforcement tools, including mandatory platform cooperation and fines for
  non-compliance. Funding for EDMO’s local hubs must be increased and social
  media companies must be legally required to act on its findings.

• European funding that supports independent journalism should be allocated.
  The size of the funding should be in proportion to media quality ranking
  assessments, guaranteeing a stronger support for media in countries with a
  more critical situation.

• Journalists should be protected from SLAPP suits through the full
  implementation of the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive by 2027. The EU should put
  pressure on countries like Italy and Hungary, which are delaying
  transposition into national law.

• The protection for journalists who work in warzones or critical situations
  should be strengthened. The EU Magnitsky Act should be used to sanction
  states and actors that target journalists. Governments should push for ICC
  investigations into attacks on media workers as war crimes.

• Governments should allow digital and media literacy to become a core
  component of public education from primary school level through
  university.

• The European Commission should launch a sector inquiry into regional media
  markets, similar to the EU Digital Markets Act inquiry into tech
  monopolies.

• The EU and national governments should develop criteria for “media
  diversity”. Companies holding more than a certain percentage of regional
  media control in terms of audience and advertising revenue should be
  required to sell off parts of its business.

Media freedom is under pressure. Journalists face bullets in Gaza, censorship in
Russia, SLAPP suits in Italy. FYEG refuses to accept this as the new normal. We
demand a Europe where public broadcasters serve the public, where truth
outweighs propaganda, and where no journalist risks their life for doing their
job. Our fight for media freedom is a fight for democracy.