19 September 2022 - Policy Dialogue organised in cooperation with Connecting Europe
Speakers: Audrius Perkauskas, Deputy Head of Unit, DG CONNECT, Audiovisual and Media Services Policy; Molly Killeen, Tech Journalist, EURACTIV; Václav Stetka, Senior Lecturer, Loughborough University; Zselyke Csaky, Policy Leader Fellow, European University Institute
Moderator: Andrea García Rodríguez, Lead Digital Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre
Media outlets play a vital role in ensuring the health of European democracy. Media pluralism and independence are key to fostering constructive and fact-based dialogue and ensuring public sector accountability. This is why media freedom is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
However, in recent years, the European information environment has been subject to a set of fundamental challenges. On the one hand, disinformation campaigns designed to manipulate Europe’s political landscape have become a regular hybrid war instrument of the Union’s geopolitical adversaries. On the other, the political polarisation of media outlets and illiberal European democracies’ growing attacks on media freedom weaken the position of professional journalism and deteriorate public trust in government functions and the quality of governance. These developments have occurred amid the rise of internet platforms run by algorithms, significantly affecting what online information is prioritised.
