Category: Events

How can the EU fight (partisan) Disinformation and Hate Speech and protect Media Freedom and Human Rights?

The EnTrust project invites you to online expert roundtables about trustworthy media on 9 February 2023 from 16:00 to 18:00 (CET) with selected stakeholders from European governance institutions, media organisations, civil society and academia.

In the last years, the relationship between the media and trust in democratic institutions has received increasingly attention. Media freedom and pluralism are seen in danger, sometimes caused by governmental control over media outlets. Regulations such as the European Media Freedom Act are being developed to protect editorial independence and make media ownership and concentration more transparent. At the same time, concerns over the dangers of digital platforms for human rights and democracies have become more nuanced, accompanied by instruments such as the European Democracy Action plan, the Code of Practice on Disinformation, and the Digital Services Act. Calls for a stronger regulation of social media and a human rights-based approach to content moderation have grown louder.

In two roundtables, we talk with our panellists about issues, legal instruments, and recommendations in the context of media freedom and human rights on digital platforms. Other participants will have the opportunity to contribute their own views and ask questions to the panellists. The roundtables will be preceded by the presentation of research from the EnTrust project on the role of media in the building of trust and distrust in governance.

You may find the full agenda of the online event here.

PLEASE REGISTER HERE.

Agenda:

• Welcome and introduction by:

Prof. Christian Lahusen, University of Siegen, Germany

• Presentation of the Research Report on Trust and the Media: 

Prof. Hans-Jörg Trenz, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy

• First Roundtable: Protecting Media Freedom and Pluralism in Europe

Barbora Bukovská, Senior Director for Law and Policy, Article 19

Artemiza-Tatiana Chisca, Head of the Media and Internet Division, Council of Europe

Audrius Perkauskas, Deputy Head of Unit at the European Commission, Audiovisual and Media Services Policy (CNECT.I.1)

Renate Schroeder, Director, European Federation of Journalists

Moderated by Alexandrina Najmowicz, Secretary General, European Civic Forum

• Second Roundtable: Digital Platforms and Human Rights: what is the Role of Regulation?

Marie-Hélène Boulanger, Head of Unit at the European Commission, Union Citizenship Rights and Free Movement (JUST.D.3)

Jan Penfrat, Senior Policy Advisor, European Digital Rights

Alberto Rabbachin, Deputy Head of Unit at the European Commission, Media Convergence and Social Media (CNECT.I.4)

Moderated by Marlena Wisniak, Senior Legal Consultant, European Center for Not-for-Profit Law

• Closing and concluding Remarks:

Prof. Christian Lahusen, University of Siegen, Germany

“Social movements as Alternative Arenas of Political participation: Mobilising Citizens in the Re-creation of Trust and Distrust”

The EnTrust project invites you to an online roundtable event on 20 June 2022 from 16:00 to 17:30 (CET) with selected stakeholders from national and EU-level governance institutions, civil society and academia. Participants will discuss findings from the EnTrust project’s Integrated Report on the Role of Democratic Social movements, dealing with the role that social movements, as alternative arenas of political participation, could have in creating and reproducing trust and distrust. The report gathered information on the interaction and possible interplay between two recent and growing trends: citizens’ withdrawal from institutional political arenas and the rise of contemporary contentious politics manifested as increased participation of citizens in new social movement practices in the following countries: Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland and Serbia, covering diverse mobilisations on democracy, environment, right to housing, rights of women and of minorities. The report provides better understanding of the social movements’ alternative visions of Europe – as a political and social space – and alternative ways of (re)building trust in its institutions. We also gathered insights into the way these social movements interrelate with more established mainstream civil society organisations (CSOs) and political parties and about their understanding of democracy.

The Expert roundtable will look into the relationship between mistrust in governance and collective mobilisation through social movements, as well as on the effects of social movements on trust-building. The rise of new social movements that mistrust institutional politics, but develop critical, enlightened trust through alternative conceptions of democracy and democratic spaces, in fact could be seen as an answer to the problem of the decline of political trust found in contemporary democracies. This debate is particularly timely in the context of the rise of new social movements within the political, social and environmental crisis that Europe is facing, and in the perspective of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe and debates on increasing citizen’s participation.

If you wish to participate in this event, please register directly here.

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Agenda:

• Welcome and introduction to the roundtable  by:

Prof. Christian Lahusen, University of Siegen, Germany

• Presentation of the report on the role of democratic social movements in the formation of trust and distrust:  

Irena Fiket, Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory of the University of Belgrade, Serbia

• Panel Discussion with:

Helmut Scholz, Member of the European Parliament, Observer to the Executive Board of the Conference on the Future of Europe

Anelia Stefanova, Energy Transformation Strategic Leader, CEE Bankwatch Network, Bankwatch CEE

Gordana Rammert, Council Member of the City of Bielefeld, CoR Young Elected Politicians Programme

Adrien Licha, Coordinator of the Brussels Office of ALDA, the European Association for Local Democracy

Alexandrina Najmowicz, Secretary General of the European Civic Forum

Gazela Pudar Draško, Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory of the University of Belgrade, Serbia

Moderated by Carlotta Besozzi, Coordinator of Civil Society Europe

• Closing and final discussion on lessons to be drawn:

Prof. Christian Lahusen, University of Siegen, Germany

On 30 November 2020, the University of Siegen and Civil Society Europe are organising an interactive online roundtable discussion with more than 30 participants (stakeholders from civil society, politicians, governance actors, journalists, media representatives and scientists) who discuss first findings from the EnTrust project and their implications, identify policy responses, ascertain remedial measures and practices, as well as potential implementation perspectives in the current policy context, including the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic.