Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

EU aims to shield media from state interference

EU aims to shield media from state interference

The Media Freedom Act could give Brussels new tools to protect journalist and media from spyware, according to a draft.

European media could be subject to new rules that aim to protect journalism from state influence and snooping, according to a draft European Union law seen by POLITICO.

The European Media Freedom Act, which is scheduled to be released this week, could give Brussels new tools to strengthen safeguards against state control of public and commercial media through political nominations on oversight boards and covert funding through advertisement.

The EU has had its own battles over media freedom with member states. In July, the Commission took Hungary to the EU's top court for allegedly violating laws on media freedom and LGBTQ+ rights. The Commission announced it was sending Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union for refusing to renew a radio license for independent Hungarian media Klubradio. Hungary will also have to face European judges over an anti-LGBTQ+ law that seeks to prevent children and teenagers from accessing content and ads about LGBTQ+ issues.

Under the planned new rules, media organizations would have to declare who owns them, either directly or indirectly, and state who their shareholders are. Such clarity is "crucial" for readers and viewers to identify and understand potential conflicts of interest so they can come to well-informed opinions, officials said in the draft. This is a prerequisite "to actively participate in a democracy."

The bill is the European Commission’s response to growing threats to media freedom across Europe. As well as Hungary, Poland has ramped up efforts to control the media amid battles with Brussels over political attempts to undermine the rule of law.

Other European countries have also seen press freedom deteriorate in recent years, according to Reporters Without Borders. Greece, the lowest-ranked EU country for press freedom, is currently mired in scandal after it was revealed journalists’ phones were tapped by its National Intelligence Service.

Several EU countries currently lack national rules to protect journalists from surveillance and media from state control, the Commission's draft said. The new rules could give lawyers across Europe a much stronger arsenal for holding EU governments accountable, it said. This addresses calls from press freedom and journalists' associations.

The new law would also provide new tools to target EU governments' snooping on journalists, an area where the Commission is now largely powerless.

Some governments and publishers have already come out against the first-of-its-kind effort to regulate news media. The Commission’s plan has been described as “a revolutionary move" and faces a potential backlash from publishers, who see the Commission as overreaching and interfering with national law.

Commission Vice President Věra Jourová said Tuesday that she was prepared for a clash with governments.

"This will be an uphill struggle," she said. "We cannot and we will not stay idle in the light of threats to media freedom."


Limit state snooping


The rules would stop governments from hacking phones and devices used by journalists and their families to track them. However, it would still leave national capitals with the possibility of using such tools if they can cite national security or a serious crime investigation.

To limit state interference in public service media, EU countries could be forced to task a national regulator to ensure that a public media board is appointed through a transparent, open and nondiscriminatory procedure. Dismissal of board members would have to be justified and made public. Such decisions could also be open to judicial review.

Commission Vice President Věra Jourová


Public media would need stable and adequate funding, disbursed in a way that safeguards editorial independence.

The Commission in July urged eight countries, including Poland, Romania and Slovenia, to strengthen the editorial and governance independence of their public services media in a yearly rule-of-law report.

The law could also tackle the “opaque and unfair allocation of state advertising,” the draft said. There are concerns that such grants could influence public media or subsidize “media outlets that provide government-friendly views.”

Governments as well as regulators and state-owned companies would have to publish how much they spend on media advertising every year.


Foreign propaganda


Beyond domestic political meddling, the Commission wants to restrict foreign propaganda and disinformation. The issue came to the fore when the EU scrambled to stem a tide of disinformation from Kremlin-backed outlets like RT and Sputnik at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. There is still a question of how to handle foreign organizations funded by the Chinese or Turkish governments that may also seek to influence the European debate.

Media regulators could step up action on "rogue media service providers, including from certain third countries" that could ultimately pose a risk to public security and defense, the text reads.

It suggests a group of European media regulators could work on countering foreign propaganda and advising the Commission on future policy. The regulators could also examine the impact of media mergers on editorial independence and media pluralism.

A draft of the proposal was first reported on by French media outlet Contexte.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
×