How should the term ”media” be defined in today’s rapidly evolving information society? And what does this imply with regard to media policy? These are questions much discussed in the Council of Europe in recent years.
In September, the Council’s Committee of Ministers adopted a Recommendation on a new notion of media. Here States are recommended to adopt a new broad notion of media and acknowledge that social networks, online games or online whistleblower sites are entitled to media freedom rights and responsibilities established under article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Recommendation offers a set of criteria to be used when providing a graduated and differentiated policy response to different actors according to their role in the production and dissemination of information or content.
Regulation should be a measure of last resort; preference should be given to self-regulation and to new media voluntarily embracing journalistic standards. Attention should be paid to situations of strong media concentration with a view to guaranteeing a satisfactory level of pluralism, diversity of content and consumer choice, says the Recommendation.