The digital age has profoundly reshaped how citizens access and engage with information. While social media platforms offer unprecedented connectivity, they have also become breeding grounds for disinformation, hate speech, and conspiracy theories. These challenges threaten democratic processes, polarize societies, and erode public trust. In contrast, professional editorial media—guided by rigorous ethical standards and a commitment to accuracy—remain as a beacon of credible and necessary antidote to the rampant disinformation proliferating on social media.
This position paper calls for the European Commission to implement policies that increase advertising revenues for news publishers, ensuring their financial sustainability and enabling them to fulfill their democratic mandate, and recommends to:
- Redirect advertising investments to editorial media
- Further promote media literacy and public awareness
- Strengthen regulations on advertising transparency
- Foster multilateral cooperation to protect information integrity
Recent developments, such as Meta’s decision to remove third-party fact-checking in the United States, and X’s policy to rely on “community notes” exacerbate this crisis. By deprioritizing fact-checking, platforms like Meta and X prioritize profits over truth and further destabilize the information ecosystem. This shift threatens not only journalism but also democracy itself. Against this backdrop, the European Union must adopt policies to ensure the sustainability of editorial media, recognizing their role as a cornerstone of democratic resilience, fostering transparency, lowering corruption, and facilitating democratic processes at large.
Moreover, news publishers contribute uniquely to the security of the EU by building information resilience that protects against foreign interference and manipulation. Supporting editorial media benefits society far beyond countering disinformation—it underpins the democratic fabric of the Union.
Amidst these developments, it is imperative that Europe develops an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) taxonomy that recognizes the democratic value of investments in editorial media and the principle of responsible advertising, thereby supporting the sustainability of the free press. This move could significantly redirect advertising investments towards editorial media that support and uphold democratic values.
Contact: Wout van Wijk
