On 29 November, a coalition of European media associations, journalist federations and media workers’ unions called for strong and meaningful protections for editorial content on large online platforms in the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The joint statement was released ahead of the second political trilogue, where the European Institutions aim to agree on the final wording of Article 17, which could become the basis for an effective recourse mechanism to rebalance the relationship between the media and big tech.

Journalists, media outlets and professionals regularly see their editorial content on online platforms being removed or otherwise restricted. The reason behind the takedowns is the platforms’ unilaterally set terms and conditions applied by content moderation algorithms. These arbitrary actions affect the diversity of information available to Europeans and also have a chilling effect on free speech, as editorial teams must consider commercial terms and conditions while doing their job. Article 17 of the EMFA must give vetted media service providers a minimum standard of protection from such behaviour.

We call for basic guarantees that:

• Establishes an effective communication channel between the platform operators on the one hand and the media on the other;
• Sets clear timeframes for the parties to (re)act
• Involves the relevant regulatory authorities or bodies whenever platforms and the media cannot come to terms with each other.

Read the full statement to the right.