Together with other 22 civil society groups and experts from across Europe, we are writing to express our deep concern about the danger posed to public safety by Article 17.2 of the European Media Freedom Act, and to urge the EU Parliament to vote for plenary amendments seeking to mitigate its threat.
As written, the proposed Article 17 would create a dangerous loophole in the online content moderation for media, seriously impeding the fight against hate speech and other harmful content, hindering protection of minors, and fragmenting EU digital legislation, mainly the Digital Services Act.
This is why we urge the EU Parliament to once again stand up for European citizens, democracy and media integrity and vote for alternative plenary amendments that would:
- Allow platforms to label or blur problematic posts within 24 hours, so that they can take swift action and prevent the viral spread of harmful content in the most crucial hours — or contain the subsequent damage.
- Remove the 24-hour must-carry obligation, which allows huge damage to be done by the spread of viral propaganda and hate speech;
- Remove the involvement of national regulators in the designation of media service providers, which can lead to abuse by member states where media freedom is at threat.
