- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 28 April 2023 (14th sitting) (see Doc. 15726, report of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education
and Media, rapporteur: Ms Fiona O'Loughlin; and oral opinion of
the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development,
rapporteur: Ms Ruth Jones). Text adopted
by the Assembly on 28 April 2023 (14th sitting).
1. Through 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 showed greater readiness to turn to the digital world
and new media to communicate with close family, friends and peers.
2. The 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.
3. Whether 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 new 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.
4. With regard to the news, the major challenge is to ensure
that all sources – whether digital media, 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.
5. By 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.
6. Children and young people face information overload on the
internet. They are exposed to a multitude of narratives and material
promoted on social networks by influencers, TikTokers, YouTubers
and video bloggers with sway over young audiences facing a complex
world. Such social network influencers are often disseminators of
misinformation, toxic advertising and harmful, or even unlawful,
content.
7. Some 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.
8. The challenge of a sustainable regulatory approach is not
only to strike a balance between minors’ safe social media use and
digital self-determination, but also to protect them from potentially
harmful behaviours and other dangers.
9. One 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”).
10. Young 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.
11. Through new media, young people are networking, thinking and
acting together, building their own identity and shaping our societies.
Participatory media have created a context 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, such
as human rights, environmental protection, sustainable development
and peace. Young people have a legitimate desire to be influential
in making crucial choices.
12. However, 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.
13. New 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 young people who
are seeking to build a better future.
14. In 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 market
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 information workers
who are subject to asymmetrical relationships and even exploitation
of their skills.
15. The Assembly therefore calls on member States to develop a
media ecosystem that ensures the provision of high-quality information
and digital safety for young people and strengthens their democratic engagement.
In this respect, member States should:
15.1 better protect the media’s editorial independence and
enhance the role and visibility of professional journalists;
15.2 support public service media and independent and local
media outlets by providing them with adequate financial resources
so that they can encourage conscious news consumption and democratic engagement
among young people;
15.3 support 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;
15.4 fund and promote research on safety and well-being online;
15.5 provide financial support for fact-checking initiatives
to counteract mis- and disinformation;
15.6 promote (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;
15.7 strengthen 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 the protection of privacy and surveillance;
15.8 consider a voluntary or compulsory digital identity system
and strengthen the means for young people to protect their own online
reputation;
15.9 align 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. 108, “Convention
108”) and its modernised version (CETS No. 223, “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;
15.10 enhance 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;
15.11 step up efforts to prevent and combat online harassment
by disseminating research and education on media ethics and by requiring
healthcare professionals and educators working with children and
young adults to routinely screen for online harassment while ensuring
that they receive specific training and are given time to analyse
the situation;
15.12 regulate 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 and fake
porn;
15.13 organise information and awareness-raising campaigns concerning
deepfakes, particularly as they are part of political disinformation,
frauds and revenge porn, and implement appropriate measures to counter
harmful deepfakes and to ensure their removal from digital platforms;
15.14 implement appropriate measures to ensure that advertisements
on video-sharing platforms comply with specific advertising requirements
in terms of transparency, bans or restrictions relating to certain
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.
16. The 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, member
States should:
16.1 stimulate the
development of young people’s civic sense and political engagement
by tackling incivility in online political discourse and by adapting
the way politicians engage with young people;
16.2 develop metrics to measure online economic value created
by young people and fund research on the development of their economic
understanding;
16.3 adopt regulations to tackle the new forms of youth labour
exploitation that have emerged in digital economy ecosystems;
16.4 ensure that educational programmes teach and raise awareness
of digital financial literacy and promote young people’s digital
contribution to the changing digital economic landscape.
