media lab | Podcast Season: 2 - Episode: 9 / Release date: 21-3-2023

1:1 with Joan Barata
Future of Free Speech Project @ Justitia

Episode Highlights

00:00 Intro

01:22 Media Freedom Act - How To Fix: The Media Privilege

12:01 Outro

Key Quotes

"[Article 17 EMFA] has particular problems: (...) the fact that this is something that will have to be assessed basically by online platforms based on very, very open criteria."

1 / 9

"It is important to take into account international standards (...) and in particular the way the right to freedom of expression has been defined by the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe."

2 / 9

"International standards do not necessarily protect specific categories of speakers but they instead tend to protect specific categories of speech, no matter who the speaker is. "

3 / 9

"Traditional media don't have a monopoly when it comes to reporting on matters of public interest."

4 / 9

"[Article 17] would exclude identical types of speech that are being disseminated by actors that are not media."

5 / 9

"The way to fix this article would be to (...) provide clear indications to platforms to avoid that (...) in certain cases, for example in election processes, speech is not excessively affected."

6 / 9

"[Assessing] the circumstances that would justify special protection is something that platforms cannot do on their own. Determining who can or who cannot receive certain special treatment must include all the stakeholders."

7 / 9

"The main risk is that Article 17 becomes a true media exemption, which would basically consolidate certain old, traditional media monopolies (...), which (...) the Media Freedom Act proclaims to try to avoid."

8 / 9

"The definition of media included in the Media Freedom Act is very limited for any purpose (...). It doesn't acknowledge other forms of reporting or journalism."

9 / 9

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About Our Guest

Dr. Joan Barata | Senior Legal Fellow - Future of Free Speech Project @ Justitia

Since recording this episode in January 2023, Dr. Joan Barata joined Justitia’s Future of Free Speech project as a Senior Legal Fellow. He is also a Fellow at the Cyber Policy Center of Stanford University. He works on freedom of expression, media and communications regulation, and intermediary liability issues. Dr. Barata teaches at various universities in different parts of the world and has published many articles and books on these subjects, both in academic and popular press. His work has taken him to most regions of the world, and he is regularly involved in projects with international organisations such as UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, where he was the principal advisor to the Representative on Media Freedom. Dr. Barata also has experience as a regulator, as he held the position of Secretary General of the Audiovisual Council of Catalonia in Spain and was member of the Permanent Secretariat of the Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities.

Relevant Resources

Protecting Media Content on Social Media Platforms: The European Media Freedom Act’s Biased Approach (Verfassungsblog)

Joan Barata is joining The Future of Free Speech (Justitia)

1:1 with Joan BarataFuture of Free Speech Project @ Justitia