Media freedom, public trust and the people’s right to know
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 22 June 2021 (17th sitting) (see Doc. 15308, report of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education
and Media, rapporteur: Mr Roberto Rampi). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 22 June 2021 (17th sitting).See
also Recommendation 2204
(2021).
1. Without the informed exercise of
the right to vote, and without citizens’ entitlement to responsible democratic
participation in policy-making and decision-making processes through
broad public and parliamentary debate, as fundamental tools for
effective democratic control over the actions of governments and
legislators, democracy is only a facade.
2. There is no democracy without the real possibility to make
conscious choices. This can only be ensured if the public is duly
informed and can freely inform itself; if a real debate of ideas
on a wide range of issues can take place on the basis of an exact
and complete knowledge of factual elements; and if everyone has
the necessary competences and culture to critically analyse the
various points of view and can express themselves without fear.
Furthermore, these conditions are essential if representatives elected
by the people are to exercise their mandate effectively and responsibly.
3. Today, our democratic values and the functioning of our democratic
institutions are challenged by post-truth narratives, disinformation,
narrow agenda-setting powers and recurrent attempts to manipulate
public opinion. Furthermore, recent developments have often eroded
parliamentary prerogatives and parliament’s fundamental mediating
role in a democratic society. A growing sense of division between
governing institutions and the general public has increased citizens’
distrust, endangering democratic governance and the effective implementation
of public policy.
4. Therefore, for the Parliamentary Assembly, there is a need
to establish a wide “right to know”, defined as a citizen’s civil
and political right to be actively informed of all aspects and all
stages of policy-making and administrative/rule-making processes,
in order to allow for full democratic participation, and hold the administrators
of public goods to account, in accordance with the standards of
human rights and the rule of law.
5. Limitations to the right to know, intended to protect national
security, the right to privacy or other human rights, must be narrowly
defined.
6. Implementation of the right to know has three active dimensions:
direct obligations that public authorities, and public or private
institutions which exercise public functions, have to respect, independently
of specific requests; the right of citizens to be informed, have
access to relevant information and contribute to the drafting and
appraisal of laws, regulations and other policy instruments; and
an educational and cultural environment that enhances and stimulates
citizens’ continued learning in an information society.
7. To give full effect to a citizen’s right to know, a range
of public policy instruments is required, including mechanisms for
consultation, information and comment, impact assessments and ex-post regulatory and legislative
evaluation.
8. The entry into force of the Council of Europe Convention on
Access to Official Documents (CETS No. 205, the “Tromsø Convention”)
is a significant step in the right direction, which the Assembly welcomes.
However, it notes with concern that the number of accessions to
the Tromsø Convention is very low.
9. The media play a key role in agenda setting and providing
timely, pluralist and reliable information. They must be free from
any pressure, including direct verbal and physical attacks, but
also from legal harassment in the form of strategic lawsuits against
public participation (SLAPP). Assaults against journalists and intimidation of
the media are major threats to the people’s right to know. It is
therefore crucial that Council of Europe standards on media freedom,
pluralism and editorial independence; the protection of journalists;
funding benchmarks and guarantees; and the transparency of media
ownership are fully implemented and adequately monitored.
10. Citizens must be aware of who is behind the news and understand
the entire ownership structure of media outlets, including beneficial
owners, as well as information-sharing agreements between media
outlets and other entities. This information is not always easy
to find or track, especially if media ownership structures are transnational.
The Assembly considers that this information must be made public.
11. Likewise, access to the information contained in company registers
is essential for citizen watchdogs, such as anti-corruption civil
society groups, and for investigative journalists to help them track
possible illegal actions. Denying access to data on company ownership
and structures, or significantly restricting it, including through
prohibitive costs, limits the public’s right to know, and may open
the door to corruption, fraud, money laundering, human rights violations
and other illegal activity.
12. While the right to know aims to enhance meaningful citizen
participation in the decision-making process, there is a need to
ensure the transparency of any participation initiatives carried
out and the input from interest groups, including professional lobbyists,
business associations and civil society organisations.
13. The Assembly is concerned that, in most member States, there
are no transparency rules which guarantee that civil society, journalists
and the public can obtain information about how artificial intelligence
is being used and how data feed into automated decision making.
Moreover, the Assembly is convinced that ensuring that the wider
public has free and easy access to scientific and other scholarly
knowledge significantly benefits society.
14. Moreover, a citizen’s right to know is intrinsically linked
to free, easy and lifelong access to cultural instruments, which
are indispensable tools for the development of a critical and independent
understanding of information and of active, inclusive and conscious
participation in a democratic society. The Arts are a positive factor
for the enhancement of critical thinking capabilities. To this end,
the widespread presence of cultural places such as libraries, theatres,
museums and live-music venues should be promoted and the inclusion
of all societal actors in cultural life should be enhanced.
15. The primary role and responsibility for safeguarding the right
to know lie with the member States and public authorities. However,
other actors, such as public and private media or educational and
cultural institutions, come into play and must assume their share
of responsibility in educating active and knowledgeable citizens.
The actions of the various stakeholders must be coherent and synergistic,
hence partnerships between these actors are crucial.
16. Consequently, the Assembly calls on member States to:
16.1 recognise the right to know
as a citizen’s civil and political right to be actively informed
of all aspects and all stages of the policy-making and administrative/rule-making
processes, in order to allow for full democratic participation,
and hold the administrators of public goods to account according
to the standards of human rights and the rule of law;
16.2 ratify the Tromsø Convention, if they have not yet done
so, and also commit themselves to the optional provisions on legislative
and judicial transparency, and to bring their laws on access to information
into line with the high standards laid down in the Tromsø Convention;
16.3 support the rapid establishment of the Tromsø Convention
Monitoring Committee and commit sufficient funds for it to be able
to operate effectively;
16.4 promote and participate in pan-European knowledge exchanges
on best practices regarding the implementation of the right of access
to information, which could also be of great value for the Tromsø Convention
Monitoring Committee;
16.5 develop and implement, in parallel with the consolidation
of existing standards set by the Tromsø Convention, complementary
measures for the effective safeguard of the right to know in accordance
with the principles set out in this Resolution and, in particular,
ensure the effective collection, compilation and timely publication
of information of public interest, using a “transparency-by-design”
approach;
16.6 take inspiration from the European Union Directive 2014/95/EU
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014
amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and
diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups,
so as to make provisions for extending access to information laws
to all private bodies performing public functions or operating with public
funds, and for ensuring publication by large companies of specific
information in the crucial areas of public interest such as respect
for human rights, the fight against corruption and bribery, environmental
protection, social responsibility, treatment of employees and diversity
within company boards in terms of age, gender, educational and professional
background;
16.7 adopt legislation which ensures transparency of lobbying,
in line with Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)2 of the Committee of Ministers
to member States on the legal regulation of lobbying activities in
the context of public decision making;
16.8 co-operate with the Group of States against Corruption
(GRECO) and other relevant international actors, as well as with
civil society, to develop a legal framework allowing and facilitating
access to information contained in company registers, also building
on best practices developed by countries that have open company
registers;
16.9 bring their legislation and practice into line with Parliamentary
Assembly
Resolution 2065
(2015) “Increasing transparency of media ownership” and
Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member
States on media pluralism and transparency of media ownership, in
order to fully implement Council of Europe standards concerning
transparency of media ownership and financing, and to request full
transparency in the conditions and execution of information-sharing
agreements that media conclude with third parties;
16.10 establish an independent national monitoring system of
the legality, accuracy and completeness of information provided
by all national media, and to make public the disaggregated data
from this monitoring exercise on at least a monthly basis;
16.11 review funding mechanisms and avoid budget cuts in the
media sector, with a view to preserving and strengthening an open
and pluralistic media landscape, and to fully implement the many
relevant Council of Europe recommendations on the matter;
16.12 bring their legislation and practice into line with Recommendation
CM/Rec(2020)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on
the human rights impacts of algorithmic systems, and organise debates
on the transparency of algorithms used by social media companies,
bringing together relevant stakeholders, to discuss how to ensure
parliamentary and citizen oversight of these algorithms;
16.13 encourage the producers and publishers of knowledge to
make their works available free of charge in open formats, and to
support good practices on open access, so that research results
are available to all societal actors, with a view to delivering
better scientific and innovative data to the public and private
sectors;
16.14 create and strengthen instruments for the widespread dissemination
of cultural knowledge; promote, in this respect, the role of libraries,
museums, theatres, live-music venues and other cultural institutions,
and establish a minimum monitored measure of their availability
per capita.
17. Members of parliament have a greater right of access to information.
Elected officials may be granted access to otherwise confidential
information and play a crucial role in mediating public debate between
different levels of society and safeguarding minority rights. Therefore,
the Assembly calls on national parliaments to analyse and evaluate
the mechanisms for participation in the decision-making process
at all levels, including in the setting of the agenda and the time
allocated to parliamentary debates and questions, with a view to ensuring
that issues of public interest are fully debated and that information
of public interest is made public.
18. The Assembly calls on members of parliament to engage in a
co-ordinated debate on setting common rules regarding the application
and revision of confidentiality standards in member States and regional institutions,
in particular regarding voting procedures, aimed at countering the
culture of secrecy and preventing public distrust and with a view
to strengthening citizens’ right to know.
