With 100 days to go to EU elections, RSF proposes 12-point New Deal for Right to Information

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How can the European Union safeguard our right to reliable news and information in the face of growing disinformation, and technology such as generative artificial intelligence with an unprecedented ability to manipulate content? With 100 days to go to the EU elections, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is proposing a 12-point New Deal for the Right to Information.

A New Deal for the Right to Information

One hundred days ahead of the European elections that are to be held from 6 to 9 June throughout the EU, and just weeks before the start of the election campaign, RSF is submitting its 12 New Deal proposals to all of the political parties that are presenting candidate lists. They are explained in an eight-page manifesto that is available in English, French and German.

RSF calls on the future MEPs and European leaders to make an unprecedented commitment to journalism as a key component of freedom of opinion and expression based on the right to information. The time has come for a New Deal for the Right to Information, for a major commitment at European level to promote journalism that is worthy of the name, journalism that serves the public interest, quality journalism based on unimpeded, independent and reliable reporting.

RSF will promote its New Deal recommendations throughout Europe, using its headquarters in Paris, its bureau in Brussels, its sections in Berlin, Helsinki, Madrid, Stockholm and Vienna, and its network of correspondents in all European countries.

The concept of A New Deal for Journalism was the subject of a report published in 2021 by the Forum for Information and Democracy, whose steering committee was chaired by Rasmus Nielsen, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford

“Five years ago, for the last elections, RSF published ten proposals to better defend press freedom in Europe. Many of them have inspired major European Union advances since then. A new European ambition is today essential in order to safeguard our right to reliable information. RSF calls on the European election candidates to take up these New Deal proposals. The EU must rise to the challenge, for European citizens as well as for the Union itself, and make the right to information a priority for the next five years with game-changing measures.

Christophe Deloire
RSF Secretary-General

12 proposals for a New Deal for the Right to Information

  • Incorporate the right to reliable information into the Treaty on European Union (TEU)
  • Establish a principle of “informational exception” so that information is not treated like a any other good
  • Require algorithms and digital services to promote reliable sources of news and information
  • Create a system for protecting the European information environment
  • Activate the “human rights clause” in EU trade agreements in the event of a violation of the right to information
  • Launch a European AI plan to protect the right to information
  • Fund the creation of a European AI language model in the media sector
  • Tax the largest digital platforms in order to fund journalism
  • Direct EU funding for a massive investment in journalism
  • Launch a European plan for protecting journalists
  • Develop European leadership through the Partnership for Information and Democracy
  • Appoint a European Commission vice-president for democracy and fundamental rights to implement the New Deal for the Right to Information
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Document lié

A New Deal for the Right to Information.pdf
Un New Deal pour le droit à l'information.pdf