3619 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Concerning more specifically the risks posed by disinformation and undue propaganda on the internet and social media for the smooth conduct of the electoral process, the Assembly calls on member States to: (…) 9.2. develop specific regulatory frameworks for internet content at election times and include in these frameworks provisions on transparency in relation to sponsored content published on social media, so that the public can be aware of the source that funds electoral advertising or any other information or opinion. "
- "Concerning more specifically the risks posed by disinformation and undue propaganda on the internet and social media for the smooth conduct of the electoral process, the Assembly calls on member States to: (…) 9.6. encourage all stakeholders – including internet intermediaries, media outlets, civil society and academia – to develop participatory initiatives to enable the general public to have a better understanding of the danger of disinformation and undue propaganda on the internet, and to seek together appropriate responses to these phenomena."
- "In addition, member States should: (...) – promote media literacy with regard to the functioning of search engines, in particular on the processes of selecting, ranking and prioritising of search results and on the implications of the use of search engines on users’ right to private life and the protection of their personal data."
- "The Committee of Ministers therefore, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, recommends that member States, in consultation with private sector actors and civil society, develop and promote coherent strategies to protect freedom of expression, access to information and other human rights and fundamental freedoms in relation to search engines in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (...), in particular by engaging with search engine providers to carry out the following actions: – enhance transparency regarding the way in which access to information is provided, in order to ensure access to, and pluralism and diversity of, information and services, in particular the criteria according to which search results are selected, ranked or removed."
- "The Committee of Ministers therefore, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, recommends that member States, in consultation with private sector actors and civil society, develop and promote coherent strategies to protect freedom of expression, access to information and other human rights and fundamental freedoms in relation to search engines in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (...), in particular by engaging with search engine providers to carry out the following actions: (...) – enhance transparency in the collection of personal data and the legitimate purposes for which they are being processed; – enable users to access easily, and, where appropriate, to correct or delete their personal data processed by search engine providers; – develop tools to minimise the collection and processing of personal data, including enforcing limited retention periods, adequate irreversible anonymisation, as well as tools for the deletion of data."
- "The Committee of Ministers therefore, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, recommends that member States, in consultation with private sector actors and civil society, develop and promote coherent strategies to protect freedom of expression, access to information and other human rights and fundamental freedoms in relation to search engines in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (...), in particular by engaging with search engine providers to carry out the following actions: (...) – ensure accessibility to their services to people with disabilities, thereby enhancing their integration and full participation in society."
- "Member States (through the designated authorities) should enforce compliance with the applicable data protection principles, in particular by engaging with search engine providers to carry out the following actions: – ensure that the collection of personal data by search engine providers is minimised. No user’s IP address should be stored when it is not necessary for the pursuit of a legitimate purpose and when the same results can be achieved by sampling or surveying, or by anonymising personal data. Innovative approaches promoting anonymous searches should also be encouraged; – ensure that retention periods are not longer than strictly necessary for the legitimate and specified purposes of the processing. Search engine providers should be in a position to justify with demonstrable reasons the collection and the retention of personal data. Information in this connection should be made publicly available and easily accessible; – ensure that search engine providers apply the most appropriate security measures to protect personal data against unlawful access by third parties and that appropriate data breach notification schemes are in place. Measures should include “end-to-end” encryption of the communication between the user and the search engine provider; – ensure that individuals are informed with regard to the processing of their personal data and the exercise of their rights, in an intelligible form, using clear and plain language, adapted to the data subject. Search engines should clearly inform users up front of all intended uses of their data (emphasising that the initial purpose of such processing is to better respond to their search requests) and respect the user’s right with regar to their personal data. They should inform individuals if their personal data has been compromised."
- "The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, recommends that member States, in consultation with private sector actors and civil society, develop and promote coherent strategies to protect and promote respect for human rights with regard to social networking services, in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (...), in particular by engaging with social networking providers to carry out the following actions: (...) − raise users’ awareness, by means of clear and understandable language, of the possible challenges to their human rights and the ways to avoid having a negative impact on other people’s rights when using these services."
- "The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, recommends that member States, in consultation with private sector actors and civil society, develop and promote coherent strategies to protect and promote respect for human rights with regard to social networking services, in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (...), in particular by engaging with social networking providers to carry out the following actions: (...) − enhance transparency about data processing, and refraining from illegitimate processing of personal data. "
- "The first priority for public service media must be to ensure that their culture, policies, processes and programming reflect and ensure editorial and operational independence."
- "While it inevitably remains the State’s responsibility to set both the method and the level of funding, it is nevertheless imperative that the system should be so designed that: - it cannot be used to exert editorial influence or threaten institutional autonomy – either of which would undermine the operational independence of the public service media; - the public service media is consulted over the level of funding required to meet their mission and purposes, and their views are taken into account when setting the level of funding; - the funding provided is adequate to meet the agreed role and remit of the public service media, including offering sufficient security for the future as to allow reasonable future planning; - the process for deciding the level of funding should not be able to interfere with the public service media’s editorial autonomy."
- "In view of the foregoing, the Committee of Ministers: (…) - encourages member States to assume their responsibility to address this threat by (…) e) empowering users by promoting critical digital literacy skills and robustly enhancing public awareness of how many data are generated and processed by personal devices, networks, and platforms through algorithmic processes that are trained for data exploitation. Specifically, public awareness should be enhanced of the fact that algorithmic tools are widely used for commercial purposes and, increasingly, for political reasons, as well as for ambitions of anti- or undemocratic power gain, warfare, or to inflict direct harm."
- "In view of the foregoing, the Committee of Ministers: (…) - draws attention to the necessity of critically assessing the need for stronger regulatory or other measures to ensure adequate and democratically legitimated oversight over the design, development, deployment and use of algorithmic tools, with a view to ensuring that there is effective protection against unfair practices or abuse of position of market power."
- "In view of the foregoing, the Committee of Ministers: (…) - emphasises in particular the need to assess the regulatory frameworks related to political communication and electoral processes to safeguard the fairness and integrity of elections offline as well as online in line with established principles. In particular it should be ensured that voters have access to comparable levels of information across the political spectrum, that voters are aware of the dangers of political redlining, which occurs when political campaigning is limited to those most likely to be influenced, and that voters are protected effectively against unfair practices and manipulation."
- "In order to redeem its promise of fostering a culture of informed public debate and active participation in the democratic process, it is of the utmost importance that individuals are empowered to understand this environment and its challenges. (…) To this end, individuals need to develop a wide range of skills for media and information use and an awareness of their rights and responsibilities in relation to the use of digital tools and technologies."
- "Notwithstanding these measures, continued targeted investments in the media ecosystem are indispensable to restore and maintain journalism that combines editorial quality, integrity, independence and a high level of ethics with sustainable technological and economic development."
- "In view of the foregoing, the Committee of Ministers: (...) - reiterates member States’ commitment to ensure stable, sustainable, transparent and adequate funding for public service media in line with the principles and standards of the Council of Europe, notably Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on media pluralism and transparency of media ownership. "
- "In view of the foregoing, the Committee of Ministers: (...) - acknowledges the necessity to consider the growing responsibilities of those internet intermediaries, notably online platforms, which through their wide geographical reach and user engagement act as main gateways for news dissemination and generate important revenue from online news. Their active role in providing services of public value and their influence in the media ecosystem should be accompanied by public interest responsibilities developed through self-regulatory mechanisms or other appropriate and proportionate regulatory or co-regulatory frameworks, aimed to ensure, inter alia that: a) With due regard to their status as important sources of information and communication, the intermediaries’ criteria by which they curate, categorise and rank online content and thus influence, through automated or human-directed processes, the visibility, accessibility and promotion of news and other journalistic publications, are transparent and applied in line with freedom of expression principles, notably the right to receive and impart information."
- "The Assembly considers that social media companies should rethink and enhance their internal policies to uphold more firmly the rights to freedom of expression and information, promoting the diversity of sources, topics and views, as well as better quality information, while fighting effectively against the dissemination of unlawful material through their users’ profiles and countering disinformation more effectively."
- "The Assembly calls on social media companies to: 11.1. define in clear and unambiguous terms the standards regarding admissible or inadmissible content, which must comply with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and should be accompanied, if need be, by explanations and (fictional) examples of content banned from dissemination."
- "The Assembly calls on social media companies to: (...) 11.2. take an active part not only in identifying inaccurate or false content circulating through their venues but also in warning their users about such content, even when it does not qualify as illegal or harmful and is not taken down; the warning should be accompanied in the most serious cases by the blocking of the interactive functions, such as “like” or “share”; 11.3. make systematic use of a network analysis approach to identify fake accounts and bots, and develop procedures and mechanisms to exclude bot-generated messages from their “trending” content or at least flag their accounts and the messages they repost."
- "The Assembly recalls that political criticism and satire must be protected as an essential part of media freedom. Freedom of expression is applicable not only to information or ideas that are favourably received or perceived as inoffensive or with indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population, subject only to the conditions and restrictions provided for in the European Convention on Human Rights."
- "Aware of the dissuasive effect of legislation on defamation, the Assembly calls on member States to review such legislation in accordance with Resolution 1577 (2007) “Towards decriminalisation of defamation”. Such review should deal with criminal law penalties as well as civil procedures for defamation which could financially threaten, in a disproportionate way, journalists and media."
- "Transparency of media ownership is necessary in order to control media concentration, to prevent the media from being in the hands of a few and to enable pluralism of media ownership."
- "National authorities must not only guarantee journalists’ security and media freedom by preventing and unconditionally condemning blatant violations, but they must also recognise and oppose the threat that more insidious methods pose to the independence and genuine pluralism of the media, to the interest of the public in receiving unbiased, critical information and hence to our democratic systems."
- "The Assembly therefore calls for greater commitment to safeguard journalists’ security and freedom and to uphold media pluralism and independence. It recommends that the Council of Europe member States: (…) 7.5. ensure transparency of the operation of regulatory bodies; the provisions for their appointment, mandate and powers must secure their independence from any influence, especially from governments."
- "The Assembly therefore calls for greater commitment to safeguard journalists’ security and freedom and to uphold media pluralism and independence. It recommends that the Council of Europe member States: (…) 7.7. review their (national, regional and local) funding systems for PSM and private media outlets in order to: 7.7.1. avoid mechanisms being used (directly or indirectly) to exercise editorial influence or to threaten the beneficiaries’ institutional autonomy."
- "United Nations field presences should be aware that whether an expression of incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence is severe enough to amount to a criminal offence depends on whether it fulfils all of the criteria in the six-part threshold test set out in the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, which is a high threshold. The criteria are: (a) the context of the expression; (b) its speaker, (c) their intent; (d) its content and form; (e) its extent and magnitude; and (f) the likelihood, including imminence, of inciting actual action against the target group."
- "Certain forms of hate speech may be prohibited under international law, even if they do not reach the above-mentioned threshold of incitement, in specific circumstances. Under article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, certain types of biased expression may be restricted if such restrictions meet certain strict conditions. Such limitations need to: (a) be provided by law; (b) pursue a legitimate aim, such as the respect of the rights of others, including the right to equality and non-discrimination, or the protection of public order; and (c) be necessary in a democratic society and proportionate (the “three-part test”)."
- "Support programmes, projects and activities on media and information literacy, including digital or technological literacy, that encourage people’s critical thinking and critical competencies and promote, among other things (...): 77.1 Competencies to search for, critically evaluate, use and contribute information and media content wisely."
- "Freedom of expression should only be restricted when there are incidents of incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, or if necessary and proportionate to secure other rights."
- "Nondiscriminatory access to media should also be guaranteed to all political parties and candidates in compliance with Article 2(1) of the ICCPR, which guarantees the rights established in the Covenant “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”. Restrictions imposed on media access should also comply with the requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality under Article 19(3)."
- "Beyond providing equal access to the media, States should encourage a fair system of paid political advertising and allow parties to generate funds to afford doing so."
- "States should establish legal frameworks that ensure transparency about media ownership and their potential influence over the political process. (...) Relevant disclosures about media ownership and consolidation provide the public with information about possible sources of economic and political influence and bias in the media."
- "In the context of elections, harassment and violence against reporters or political candidates should be prohibited by law, and promptly investigated by the relevant authorities."
- "States should refrain from network shutdowns, which are a categorical violation of international human rights law. They must also ensure that any restriction on blogs, websites, online content and communications platforms is provided by law, and a necessary and proportionate means to protect a legitimate objective."
- "Rather than imposing undue restrictions on freedom of expression and onerous intermediary liability obligations, efforts to address online disinformation should promote an enabling environment for freedom of expression. These measures include: requiring or encouraging heightened transparency regarding advertisement placements and sponsored content; developing and promoting independent fact-checking mechanisms; providing support for independent and diverse public service media outlets; instituting measures to improve public education and media literacy; and collaborating with social media platforms to ensure that their approaches to content moderation, including the use artificial intelligence-driven tools, reinforce and respect human rights."
- "Companies that hold large amounts of users’ data should develop robust and meaningfully transparent privacy policies and processes in consultation with civil society and other stakeholders, consistent with their responsibilities to respect human rights."
- "States should promote effective access to the Internet and other digital technologies for all parts of population, including by closing digital gaps based on gender, race, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic status and other bases, and putting in place clear requirements and policies to ensure respect for the principle of net neutrality."
- "There should be no prior censorship of the media, including through means such as the administrative blocking of media websites or Internet shutdowns."
- "There should be no general or ambiguous laws on disinformation, such as prohibitions on spreading “falsehoods” or “non-objective information”."
- "The media, both legacy and digital, should be exempted from liability during election periods for disseminating statements made directly by parties or candidates unless the statements have specifically been held to be unlawful by an independent and impartial court or regulatory body, or the statements constitute incitement to violence and the media outlet had a genuine opportunity to prevent their dissemination."
- "Any administrative body which has the power to oversee rules relating to the media during election periods should be independent of the government and its decisions should be subject to timely judicial review."
- "All publicly-owned media should, during election periods, ensure that the public is informed about election matters, respect strict rules of fairness, impartiality and balance, and grant all parties and candidates equitable opportunities to communicate directly with the public, either for free or at subsidised rates."
- "Any rules on election spending which are designed to create a level electoral playing field should be applicable to legacy and digital media, taking into account their differences, including rules about transparency of political advertising."
- "States should make a concerted effort to promote digital media and information literacy, including in relation to elections."
- "Directing targeted political advertising, based on personal data, at individuals through the media should not be allowed, especially during election periods, unless those individuals have consented to the use of their personal data for this purpose."
- "States should consider supporting positive measures to address online disinformation, such as the promotion of independent fact-checking mechanisms and public education campaigns, while avoiding adopting rules criminalising disinformation."
- "States have a special obligation to take rapid and effective measures to prevent, protect, investigate, prosecute and punish attacks, threats, intimidation and harassment, offline and online, against journalists and other media workers, including against their property and families, during election periods, particularly where State actors are or may be involved. This obligation is especially pronounced in relation to female journalists and individuals belonging to marginalised groups."
- "States should require media outlets, both legacy and digital, to make public information about their ownership, in accordance with principles of non-discrimination and the threepart test."