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Resolution 2212 (2018)
The protection of editorial integrity
1. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls
that the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information carries
with it duties and responsibilities. Media professionals are accountable
to the public; they have to keep high editorial standards and adopt
codes of conduct that promote essential ethical principles, such
as truth and accuracy, independence, fairness and impartiality,
humanity and accountability. In this context, the Assembly supports
the Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists adopted
by the International Federation of Journalists.
2. The Assembly is aware of several challenges threatening the
editorial integrity and independence of the media in the member
States. The emergence of new internet-based media and the rapid
proliferation of media-like information sources have triggered a
dramatic decline in revenues of traditional media. The reduced audience
and less profitable, obsolete business models, but also increased
threats from organised crime, terrorism and armed conflicts, compromise
both the independence of the media and their editorial integrity.
3. Criminal defamation laws, including provisions for imprisonment,
remain in the criminal codes of a majority of member States, and
the risk of high fines often acts as another obstacle for journalistic investigations.
In this respect, the Assembly recalls its Resolution 1577 (2007) “Towards
decriminalisation of defamation”, and reaffirms that statements
or allegations in the media, even if they prove to be inaccurate, should
not be punishable, provided that they were made without knowledge
of their inaccuracy, without conscious intention to cause harm,
and that their truthfulness was checked with proper diligence.
4. Editorial integrity in the media calls not only for accuracy,
honesty and fairness, but also for sound and independent judgment
by editors and journalists. Journalists and media outlets must be
free to investigate, report and publish without undue constraints
and without fear of violence or arbitrary treatment at the hands
of State authorities. In this connection, the Assembly is concerned
that in an environment where several member States have assumed
extra surveillance and law-enforcement powers in the name of countering
terrorism and protecting the public, the media’s capacity to conduct
difficult and lengthy investigations, relying on confidential sources
of information, has been significantly reduced.
5. Journalists are increasingly being threatened, harassed, intimidated,
subjected to surveillance, arbitrarily deprived of their liberty,
physically attacked, tortured and even killed. They feel pressure
to self-censor by withholding information in their reports and sometimes
there is no mechanism they can trust to which they can report harassment
or threats. In this context, the Assembly recalls Committee of Ministers
Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 on the protection of journalism and
the safety of journalists and other media actors, as well as its
own Resolution 2179 (2017) on
political influence over independent media and journalists, in which
the Assembly expressed its deep concern about the range of tactics
used to erode media freedom, force journalists into self-censorship
or take control of media outlets and subjugate them to vested interests.
6. The Assembly is also alarmed by the fact that State authorities
intervene directly in the media sphere, not only by means of direct
ownership, but also through partisan appointments to leadership
positions in broadcasting and allocation of broadcasting licences,
favouring selected media and weakening others by inequitable allocation
of advertising budgets of government agencies and public companies.
7. In some cases, State-directed media have been turned into
propaganda tools and misused to transmit false news or incite xenophobic
hatred against minorities and vulnerable groups. This leads to a
lack of independence and low ethical standards of a number of media
outlets and explains the increasing lack of trust from the public.
In this respect, the Assembly reaffirms its support for the decision
of the European Council in 2015 to counteract a stream of disinformation
and inflammatory falsehoods emanating from media outlets and online
accounts in the Russian Federation by setting up the East StratCom
Task Force. It furthermore welcomes the 2017 Joint Declaration on
Freedom of Expression and “Fake News”, Disinformation and Propaganda
by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and
Expression, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Organization
of American States (OAS) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression,
and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information,
affirming that State actors should not make, sponsor or disseminate
disinformation or propaganda.
8. The Assembly considers that in the present challenging context,
the need for journalists to protect their editorial integrity and
to keep high professional and ethical standards has become particularly
topical. Consequently, the Assembly recommends that member States:
8.1. fully implement Recommendation
CM/Rec(2016)4, with a view to fulfilling their positive obligation to
protect media professionals and guarantee freedom of the media;
8.2. actively support the goals of the United Nations Plan
of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity,
which calls on State authorities to put an end to impunity for physical
and verbal attacks against journalists and create a safe and enabling
environment for the media to do their work;
8.3. fully respect Council of Europe standards regarding independence
and pluralism of public service media, putting an end to the widespread
attempts to influence them or to turn them into government media;
8.4. review their national legislation on:
8.4.1. defamation
and its practical application in accordance with Assembly Resolution 1577 (2007),
with a view to ensuring its compatibility with Article 10 of the
European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5);
8.4.2. extra surveillance and law-enforcement powers in the name
of countering terrorism and protecting the public, with a view to
safeguarding the capacity for media to play their watchdog role;
8.4.3. regulatory authorities in the media field, with a view
to ensuring – via their independence with regard to political and
economic forces – increased transparency of media ownership and greater
diversity of media content;
8.5. examine the issue of the enormous imbalance in revenues
between news media outlets and internet corporations, and find legal
and practical solutions to rectify this imbalance, including by:
8.5.1. channelling some of the great profits from digital advertising
placed on search engines and social media back to the media that
invest mainly in reporting the news; this could be done for example
via changes in taxation and copyright rules;
8.5.2. finding appropriate ways for internet companies to take
more editorial responsibility as publishers and not merely as digital
platforms;
8.6. legally prohibit propaganda for war and advocacy of national,
racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination,
hostility or violence;
8.7. consider establishing a national observatory to track
dissemination of disinformation, propaganda and fake news and propose
adequate measures to counteract these phenomena.
9. The Assembly invites media professionals and media outlets
to:
9.1. aim to increase voluntary
adherence to, and respect for, professional codes of ethics in order
to maintain high journalistic standards and editorial integrity,
and restore public trust in the media;
9.2. use their effective right to refuse to carry out work
that infringes their professional ethical codes and editorial integrity;
9.3. maintain a clear separation between the activities of
their editorial staff and the work of their advertising and commercial
departments; clear rules should be followed to avoid conflicts of
interest and self-censorship;
9.4. develop internal oversight mechanisms, such as a readers’
editor or ombudsperson, as well as self-regulatory mechanisms, to
ensure that people considering themselves targets of unreasonable press
intrusion and inaccurate reporting have ready access to an effective
system of complaint and redress, while safeguarding editorial integrity
and independence;
9.5. monitor the dissemination of fake news, flag such false
information whenever it appears either in traditional or social
media and, in this connection, develop within the profession strong
and tight co-operation in combating disinformation, propaganda and
fake news;
9.6. organise adequate training to enhance journalists’ skills
to meet editorial challenges, including skills regarding data management,
and their knowledge of journalists’ rights and duties under domestic and
international law.
10. The Assembly invites:
10.1. the
European Federation of Journalists to promote awareness of the issues
raised in this resolution among its members and to facilitate exchanges
of experience and good practice regarding editorial integrity and
high-quality journalism;
10.2. the European Broadcasting Union to continue to promote
its Editorial Principles and Guidelines and to encourage European
public service media to fully implement them, keeping in mind their particular
role in a democratic society as an independent source of unbiased,
accurate and relevant information and diverse political opinions;
10.3. the Alliance of Independent Press Councils of Europe to
strengthen co-ordination among its members, in order to raise ethical
and professional standards in Europe, facilitate complaints procedures across
borders and raise awareness among the public;
10.4. the Ethical Journalism Network to continue advocating
editorial integrity and transparency among journalists, while at
the same time warning against behaviour that is contrary to professional
ethics.