European regulators are once again stepping up to the plate to defend some pretty fundamental and basic rights and ways of life. According to reports, the European Union is now gunning to shield media outlets and journalists from state interference at a time in which state interference is busier than ever. State interference simply refers to the act of a state interfering in the publication of media or articles for the purpose of suppressing the truth (think a dictatorship or a regime.)
The commission back in July first named a series of countries including Poland, Romania and Slovenia, to strengthen the editorial and governance independence of their public services media in a yearly rule-of-law report.
One of those states unironically is Hungary. The European Union notoriously took Hungary to the High Court in July over not only its crackdown on press freedom and the like but also that of its violation of the rights of LGBTQ+ people. The country attempted to block a license renewal for a popular radio station but European Union officials intervened and now they will have to see their bluff in court. Country officials will also have to see the High Court over an anti-LGBTQ+ law that aims to pretend as if young people aren’t somehow gay themselves or may be coming to terms with their own sexual identity somehow.
Part of this new procedure would mean that member states particularly the biggest offenders would be req’d to bring on a non-discriminatory; open, and transparent regulator that would otherwise take them to task over media freedom. Some publishers are arguing against this but there is no real argument against this the press is a vital component of a working democracy no matter how one spins the narrative.
This is where it gets interesting and Hungary is just one of many examples across the Union as a whole that have cracked down on these two topics. The new bill does aim to establish ‘media boards’, if you will, across the Union that would give lawyers extra weapons in their war against governments (another one would be that of Alexander Lukashenko.)
An interesting point in the new proposal would be that governments and their allies (think those in which repeatedly provide friendly government coverage even if they let’s say commit war crimes for example) would be required to publish how much money is spent on national advertising in the media. Publishers would then be required to disclose who owns said news company; its shareholders, who is lining their pockets and so on in a renewed effort to allow the public to make their own informed decisions about the press and media as a whole.
This was first reported via a leaked draft by French media outlet Contexte.
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