Youth and the media

Doc. 15726: compendium of written amendments | Doc. 15726 | 27/04/2023 | Final version

Compendium index

Amendment 1 Sub-amendment 1 to amendment 1 Amendment 2 Amendment 3

Caption: AdoptedRejectedWithdrawnNo electronic votes

ADraft Resolution

1Through new media, young Europeans are developing social relationships and expressing their concerns, aspirations and expectations in a way that is quite different from previous generations. The Covid-19 pandemic and measures taken to combat its spread had a huge impact on their lives: they suffered, probably more than adults, from social distancing and lockdowns; at the same time, they show a greater readiness to turn to the digital world and new media to communicate with close family, friends and peers.

2The Parliamentary Assembly considers it vital to ensure safe social media use for young people and to promote youth participation in social, economic and political life via the media.

3Whether people use traditional media or non-mainstream digital media, their habits and practices in accessing news and seeking information are largely influenced by their age. Online and social media platforms are the prime sources of information for young people. There are two patterns of news consumption: on the one hand, and more often than not, an accidental exposure to news, which is consulted in a piecemeal fashion on digital platforms; on the other hand, deliberate news consumption on social networking sites, with a degree of interest and engagement that varies greatly from person to person.

4With regard to the news, the major challenge is to ensure that all sources – whether digital-born, non-mainstream news platforms or traditional media – provide young people with high-quality news reporting and encourage them to play an active and deliberate part in civic and political life.

5By design, technologies are likely to trigger addictive user behaviour, especially among the young. For the latter, constant connectivity and immediate responsiveness have become the norm, leaving them vulnerable to problems such as digital stress, fear of missing out and “technoference” – constant interruptions in interpersonal interactions caused by technological, digital and mobile devices.

6Children and young people face information overload on the internet. They are exposed to a multitude of material and narratives promoted on social networks by influencers, TikTokers, YouTubers and video bloggers with sway over young audiences grappling with a complex world. Such social network influencers are often disseminators of misinformation, toxic advertising and harmful, or even unlawful, content.

7Some young people may also be drawn in by online incitement to violence and radicalisation, although many are quick to speak out against hate speech and discrimination. Abusive and harmful content for young people also includes non-consensual pornography, which must be tackled through regulation.

8The challenge of a sustainable regulatory approach is to strike a balance between ensuring minors’ safe social media use and digital self-determination and, at the same time, protecting them from potentially harmful behaviours and other dangers.

9One major source of concern relates to digital identity and online reputation, namely the need for safety measures and data privacy protection for young people, who are not always aware of the risks linked to digital technologies. In this respect, it is crucial to take into account minors’ cognitive abilities and to effectively uphold the right to have one’s personal data erased (“right to be forgotten”).

10Young people’s participatory and collaborative culture is influenced by their internet, social network and digital technology usage patterns. Young people’s degree of trust in the media affects their interest and engagement.

11Through new media, young people are networking, thinking and acting together, building their own identity and shaping our societies. Participatory media have formed a landscape that is conducive to participatory politics in which young people do not just follow elite-driven information. Media platforms create opportunities for young people to express their views on today’s crucial issues like human rights, environmental protection, sustainable development and peace. They have a legitimate desire to be influential in making crucial choices.

12However, there is a substantial disconnect between institutional politics and the daily lives of certain groups, especially young women and young people from minorities, which is reflected in their perceptions of politicians. Some young people do not feel listened to or represented in institutional politics and there is a “technological disjunction” between traditional political media and other types of information technology.

13New approaches need to be found to make young people’s voices more audible in traditional media too, to converse with them in order to tap into their way of contributing to the social fabric, to better protect those who may be more exposed and vulnerable to harmful content online and to empower the many who are seeking to build a better future.

14In the digital environment, young people are the main drivers behind both the dissemination and the production of information. The digital ecosystem thus provides young people with the tools and spaces to be both active and creative consumers and producers of culture. Their data, attention, culture, labour and creativity, however, are being commodified to generate profits that media operators do not share equitably. Such participation in the digital economy entails power relations: through “aspirational labour”, young people create and produce content for free in the hope of a future career, thereby forming a class of data workers who are subject to asymmetrical relationships and even exploitation of their skills.

15The Assembly therefore calls on member States to develop a media ecosystem that ensures the provision of high-quality news reporting and digital safety for young people and strengthens their democratic engagement. In this respect, it is necessary to:

15.1better protect the media’s editorial independence and enhance the role and visibility of professional journalists;

15.2support public service media and independent and local media outlets by providing them with adequate financial resources so that they can encourage responsible news consumption and democratic engagement among young people;

15.3support the presence of news media on social networks to disseminate news that takes into account the diversity and specific needs of certain groups of young people, in particular those from minority backgrounds, for example, young migrants;

15.4fund and promote research on safety and well-being online;

15.5provide financial support for fact-checking initiatives to counteract mis- and disinformation;

15.6promote (publicly and privately-run) media literacy programmes aimed at countering the trend among young people for intermittent “news snacking” and at strengthening young users’ digital and critical thinking skills so that they are better equipped to tackle information disorder and harmful content and to identify and challenge abusive content and advertising practices on the internet;

15.7strengthen the role of data protection and competition authorities; in particular, ensure compliance with data protection rules for young people under the age of 18 and enforce appropriate measures to make corporate platforms comply with all the relevant requirements in terms of surveillance and the protection of privacy;

15.8consider a voluntary or compulsory digital identity system and strengthen young people’s capacity to protect their own online reputation;

15.9align their national legislation with the standards set by the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (ETS No. 180, “Convention 108”) and its modernised version (ETS No. 180, “Convention 108+”); in particular, introduce strict penalties for major social media platforms when they engage in unfair commercial practices and collect and use data about minors for commercial purposes, including targeted marketing and personalised advertising;

15.10enhance the role of national media and advertising regulatory authorities and ensure compliance with measures to protect users, especially the most vulnerable, from online harassment and harmful content on video-sharing platforms and social networks;

15.11step up efforts to prevent and combat online harassment by disseminating research and education on media ethics and by requiring health-care professionals and educators working with children and young adults to routinely screen for cyberbullying;

• Amendment 1
• Sub-amendment 1 to amendment 1

27 April 2023

Tabled by the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development

Votes: 33 in favor 0 against 0 abstention

In the draft resolution, at the end of paragraph 15.11, add the following words:

", provided that they receive specific training and are given time to analyse the situation".

Explanatory note

On the practical level, health-care professionals lack time to routinely scrutinize for cyberbullying. In addition, it is a very sensitive and touchy issue: confidence is a keyword for a good relation between health-care professionals and young patients. So, there is an essential preliminary requirement: health-care professionals should be specifically trained.

27 April 2023

Tabled by the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media

Votes: 32 in favor 0 against 0 abstention

In Amendment 1, replace the word "provided" with the following words:

"while ensuring"

15.12regulate pornography platforms in Europe and impose harsher penalties on intermediary services that do not comply with the requirement to remove non-consensual imagery, including revenge porn, fake porn and deepfakes;

• Amendment 2
• Amendment 3

27 April 2023

Tabled by Ms Karin BROUWERS, Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Mr Mogens JENSEN, Ms Yevheniia KRAVCHUK, Mr Andi-Lucian CRISTEA, Mr Ričards ŠLESERS

In the draft resolution, paragraph 15.12, replace the words ", fake porn and deepfakes" with the following words:

"and fake porn;"

27 April 2023

Tabled by Ms Karin BROUWERS, Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Mr Mogens JENSEN, Ms Yevheniia KRAVCHUK, Mr Andi-Lucian CRISTEA, Mr Ričards ŠLESERS

In the draft resolution, after paragraph 15.12, insert the following paragraph:

"organise information and awareness-raising campaigns concerning deepfakes, particularly as they are part of political disinformation, scams and revenge porn, and implement appropriate measures to counter harmful deepfakes and to ensure their removal from digital platforms;"

Explanatory note

Deepfakes are not only pornographic and should be dealt with by a separate paragraph.

15.13implement appropriate measures to ensure that advertisements on video-sharing platforms comply with specific advertising requirements around transparency, prohibited and restricted products and other general advertising requirements; promote uniform approaches to social media regulation on limiting or banning advertisements aimed at children, including those for harmful foods.

16The Assembly also calls on member States to promote the participation of young people in social and economic life via the media, bearing in mind that digital transformation may lead to structural inequalities and reproduce existing ones, including through the invasion of privacy, exploitation of free labour and surveillance. In this respect, it is necessary to:

16.1stimulate youth civic development and political engagement by tackling incivility in online political discourse and by adapting the way politicians engage with young people;

16.2develop metrics to measure online economic value created by young people and fund research on the development of their economic understanding;

16.3adopt regulations to tackle the new forms of youth labour exploitation that have emerged in digital economy ecosystems;

16.4ensure that youth educational programmes raise awareness of and teach digital financial literacy and promote young people’s input into the changing digital economic landscape.