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Resolution 2255 (2019)
Public service media in the context of disinformation and propaganda
1. The Parliamentary Assembly considers
that public service media have an indispensable mission to fulfil in
democratic societies. They should be a forum for pluralistic public
debate and a means of promoting a broader democratic participation
of individuals, and also a factor of social cohesion and integration
of all people, groups and communities.
2. Editorial and institutional independence, as well as sufficient
and stable funding, constitute indispensable conditions for public
service media to effectively fulfil their mission. In return, public
service media should deliver high-quality journalism by focusing
on matters of public concern and providing the public with reliable
information and a diversity of opinions. This is all the more important
in the new media environment, where the dissemination of disinformation,
propaganda or hate speech is growing exponentially, in particular
via social media.
3. While hate speech may require legal prosecution, disinformation,
propaganda and more broadly information disorder – created from
decontextualised facts, leaps of logic and repetitious falsehoods
– can more easily be countered by the provision of reliable information.
Commercial media might not always do this, especially when they
are owned by entrepreneurs with political connections or ambitions.
Public service media, as independent sources of accurate information
and unbiased commentary, are by definition well placed to counteract
the phenomenon of information disorder.
4. Fully aware of the threat that disinformation, propaganda
and other forms of information disorder represent for democratic
societies, the Assembly joins its voice to international forums
such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which have recognised the need for
robust and diverse media ecosystems and acknowledged the role of
public service media in counteracting disinformation and propaganda.
5. The Assembly is aware that today public service media must
meet a number of challenges. In many member States, there is an
emerging trend of threats to the independence of public service
media or to their regulatory bodies. Many governments’ preference
for taxpayer-generated funding has given them more budgetary influence,
which can result in more State-controlled content. Moreover, due
to commercial pressures from media markets, public service media
sometimes face criticism from commercial competitors for allegedly distorting
the digital news marketplace. Also, public service media are fundamentally
national institutions, consequently no one model to counter national
or international information disorder fits all contexts. All these challenges
may weaken the capacity of public service media to counter disinformation
and propaganda.
6. The Assembly considers that in the present media environment,
there is a need for strong public service media that are able to
counter information disorder. Consequently, the Assembly recommends
that member States:
6.1. guarantee
editorial independence, as well as sufficient and stable funding,
for public service media, to ensure that they are capable of producing
accurate, reliable news and information and ensuring quality journalism
deserving the trust of the public;
6.2. ensure that their national legal frameworks allow for
public service media to make use of the internet and to broadcast
online;
6.3. secure adequate funding to public service media, so that
they can allocate sufficient resources to innovation in content,
form and technology to foster their role as major players in countering disinformation
and propaganda and as a cutting-edge stakeholder in protecting communication
and media ecosystems in Europe;
6.4. avoid the term “fake news”, which has been excessively
politicised and frequently used to negatively label independent
critical journalists or media outlets; use instead – as recommended
by the Council of Europe – the concept of “information disorder”
to describe the content, the purpose and the extent of dissemination
of misleading information;
6.5. support research on information disorder to better understand
its impact on the public, and try to find adequate solutions to
neutralise its negative effects;
6.6. open a multi-stakeholder discussion on the public service
obligations of social media to ensure public interest benefits for
society, as well as debates on the issue of the economic model of
information media organisations, which still champion quality journalism
but are under economic pressure as their advertising revenues are
eclipsed by the social media platforms;
6.7. support multi-stakeholder collaborations aiming to develop
new tools for user-generated content fact-checking and artificial
intelligence-driven fact-checking;
6.8. ensure proper follow-up to the recommendations of the
European Commission High-Level Expert Group on fake news and online
disinformation, namely to create a network of research centres to
study disinformation in order to monitor the scale, techniques and
tools, the precise nature and potential impact of disinformation
in society, to identify and map disinformation sources and mechanisms
that contribute to their digital amplification, to provide a safe
space for accessing and analysing platforms’ data, and to better
understand the functioning of algorithms.
7. The Assembly calls on public service media organisations to:
7.1. fully implement the European
Broadcasting Union guidelines and editorial principles to guarantee quality
journalism and trustworthiness, and act as national hubs for reliable
information and role models, engaging audiences in all their diversity;
7.2. consider countering disinformation and propaganda as one
of their priority missions and, in this respect, seek to enhance
their role by engaging with social media platforms, legacy media,
policy makers and other stakeholders in a joint action against information
disorder, and to take part in local, regional and global fact-checking
initiative partnerships;
7.3. cultivate analytical points of view, develop
current affairs and education programmes to inform audiences about
the importance of source criticism, fact-checking and “filter bubbles”,
explaining the harm of disinformation, propaganda and “alternative
news”;
7.4. attract audiences through quality and innovation, using
creative and informative online content and social media platforms
with a wider audience in order to reach young people and other hard-to-reach audiences;
7.5. in parallel with speedy reaction to news, develop slow,
deliberative, analytical stories that are verified, contextualised
and reported impartially.
8. The Assembly calls on internet intermediaries to:
8.1. actively participate in fact-checking projects, like those
of First Draft and the International Fact-Checking Network, and
develop specific tools that allow users and journalists to detect
disinformation and foster a positive engagement with fast-evolving
information technologies;
8.2. co-operate with public and private European news outlets
to improve the visibility of reliable, trustworthy news and facilitate
users’ access to it, as well as with civil society and organisations specialising
in the verification of content to ensure the accuracy of all information
on the social media platforms.
9. The Assembly calls on the European Broadcasting Union to continue
to promote its guidelines and editorial principles and, in this
context:
9.1. provide its members
with advanced strategies regarding various means of countering information disorder
and of helping audiences develop critical and analytical capacities
for news consumption;
9.2. further develop innovative, collaborative fact-checking
initiatives and systems to verify user-generated content among its
members, looking for synergies with other quality news partners;
9.3. organise systematic workshops and training for its members
on verification techniques and encourage the exchange of good practice
in the area of countering disinformation and propaganda;
9.4. actively take part in, and contribute to, targeted studies
focusing on information disorder.