For these reasons, the Assembly recommends that member States
develop holistic strategies to counter illegal propaganda and provide
effective responses to the spread of harmful, though legal, propaganda.
In this respect, they should in particular:
12.1 ensure that propaganda prohibited by international law
and propaganda which seriously threatens democracy and human rights
are declared illegal in domestic law;
12.2 ratify the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial
Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (CETS
No. 225, “the Vilnius Convention”) and ensure its implementation
with due regard to the impact of artificial intelligence technologies
on production and dissemination of disinformation and illegal propaganda;
12.3 review, as required, national legislation to provide for
appropriate legal action against the sponsoring, production and
dissemination of illegal propaganda, while fully respecting the
right to freedom of expression and ensuring that restrictions and
sanctions strictly observe the three-part test of legality, legitimacy
and necessity;
12.4 impose targeted sanctions on those Russian media outlets,
such as RT and its affiliates, whose work violates the ethics of
journalism and represents a threat to the national security of member
States;
12.5 impose targeted sanctions on war propagandists, such as
Margarita Simonyan, Olga Skabeeva and Vladimir Solovyov, if this
has not already been done;
12.6 recognise the role of the Russian Orthodox Church as a
tool of Russian State propaganda, and evaluate and address the involvement
of religious institutions that are used for spreading the Kremlin’s propaganda
in their countries;
12.7 introduce safeguards, including procedural ones, to apply
restrictive measures carefully, avoiding their abuse or misuse and
ensuring that they do not become tools to silence critical voices
and opposition;
12.8 establish proper independent media oversight mechanisms,
entrusted to independent regulators, to review the legality, legitimacy
and necessity of restrictions intended to counter harmful propaganda, as
well as their concrete implementation modalities;
12.9 provide reliable and trustworthy information on matters
of public interest, such as the economy, public health, security,
protection of human rights for all and the environment, in particular
on controversial issues, such as climate change and its impact,
the rights of minorities, migrants or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
intersex and queer plus (LGBTIQ+) people, sex and gender issues,
among others;
12.10 ensure transparency of governmental activities through
proactive and responsive measures for those seeking official information
according to the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents
(CETS No. 205, “the Tromsø Convention”), and maintain the right
of access to information during states of emergency, to build trust
around governmental information processes;
12.11 take effective steps to foster equal access of all to
information, including women, young people and disadvantaged groups;
12.12 promote media and information literacy, and invest in
media and civic education programmes to uphold critical thinking;
12.13 promote a free, independent and diverse information and
communication environment, including a diverse and pluralistic media
landscape;
12.14 ensure that public service media are independent and adequately
resourced to fulfil their mission of public interest;
12.15 encourage and support quality journalism and the existence
and effective implementation of professional standards by different
media actors;
12.16 reinforce transparency of media ownership and financial
sources;
12.17 encourage research on harmful propaganda to help inform
local, national and European strategies to address it;
12.18 strengthen collaboration and look within the framework
of the Council of Europe for co-ordinated responses, making better
use of the co-operation mechanisms and tools provided by the Organisation.
