Friday 26 September 2008

*Media pluralism: EU Parliament opposes regulation of blogs

Yesterday the European Parliament adopted a resolution on media concentration and pluralism, which was tabled by the Greens/EFA, PSE and ALDE political groups. Green MEP Helga TrĂ¼pel, vice-president of the media and culture committee, commented:



"Parliament has sent a clear signal that media pluralism is essential in democratic societies. Citizens must have access to a wide range of media and information. Media concentration limits this freedom.


"Parliament has expressed its support for a Charter of Media Freedom. There must be social and legal guarantees for publishers and journalists. Greens oppose any move to assign a legal status to blog authors and publishers, as well as calls for disclosure of interests and voluntary labelling. We do not want to regulate private blogs or set a legal framework that would encourage lawsuits.



"Unlawful content is already covered by national civil and criminal laws. Extending regulation would only endanger the freedom of press. Copyright in new media does pose some new questions however. Granting police powers to service providers is not the answer. New solutions must be found to pay royalties to artists."

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