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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 13143 | 18 March 2013
The protection of freedom of expression and information on the Internet and online media
1. The Committee of Ministers has examined
with interest Recommendation 1998 (2012) of the Parliamentary Assembly
on “The protection of freedom of expression and information on the
Internet and online media”, which it has transmitted to a number
of intergovernmental bodies for information and possible comments. It invites the governments
of the member States to transmit this recommendation, and Resolution 1877
(2012) of the Assembly, also entitled “The protection of freedom
of expression and information on the Internet and online media”,
as referred to in the recommendation, to national authorities and
regulatory authorities responsible for media based on information
and communication technology (ICT).
2. The Committee of Ministers recalls the standards it has set
in respect of media and freedom of expression and information, and
considers that the Parliamentary Assembly’s recommendation positively builds
on these. The Committee of Ministers recalls, most recently, its
Declaration on the Desirability of International Standards dealing
with Forum Shopping in respect of Defamation, “Libel Tourism”, to
Ensure Freedom of Expression, adopted in July 2012. Further, the
Committee of Ministers wishes to stress the fundamental importance
for people to be able to express themselves and access information
on the Internet and through online media without restrictions other
than those permitted by Article 10, paragraph 2 of the European
Convention on Human Rights. The European Court of Human
Rights has recently underscored this approach, citing
several instruments adopted by the Committee of Ministers. This
means exercising restraint and acting with proportionality to protect
users’ freedom online. The Committee of Ministers recalls its Declaration
on Measures to Promote the Respect of Article 10 of the European
Convention on Human Rights, adopted in January 2010.
3. The Committee of Ministers considers that there is a need
to protect the freedom of privately operated Internet platforms
and online service providers that serve the public interest (see
Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on the Protection of Freedom
of Expression and Freedom of Assembly and Association with regard to
Privately Operated Internet Platforms and Online Service Providers,
adopted in December 2011). However, with freedom comes responsibility.
The Committee of Ministers recalls that the indicators and criteria established
in its recommendation to member States on a new notion of media,
adopted in September 2011, help to clarify when intermediaries exercise
the same functions as traditional media actors, to gauge and align their
freedoms and responsibilities.
4. The Committee of Ministers supports the Parliamentary Assembly’s
recommendation for intermediaries of ICT-based media to establish
self-regulation in respect of codes of conduct, to carry out their
functions in a transparent way and to inform users in a clear language
of their corporate policies. Users’ awareness and ability to make
fully informed decisions on the Internet is a central theme of many
recent Committee of Ministers’ standards in the field of the media
and information society, in particular its Recommendation Rec(2012)3
to member States on the protection of human rights with regard to
search engines and its Recommendation Rec(2012)4 to member States
on the protection of human rights with regard to social networking
services, both adopted in April 2012.
5. Moreover, the Committee of Ministers would draw attention
to the Council of Europe Internet Governance Strategy 2012-2015, adopted
in March 2012, which includes work on a compendium of rights for Internet
users and guidelines to assist governments and Internet intermediaries
promote pluralistic quality-based and diverse sources of information.
In addition, it includes work on principles for “network neutrality” which
will directly contribute to the Assembly’s proposal to co-operate
with the European Commission and the European Union Body of European
Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).
6. With respect to the Parliamentary Assembly’s final recommendation
in relation to the Convention on Cybercrime (ETS No. 185), the Committee
of Ministers again refers to the Internet Governance Strategy and, in
particular, its chapter IV.