Committee on Culture and Education Ordinary meeting
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CULT European Parliament
Follow its sittingsNela Riehl
I think I speak for us all when I say that we really esteem the work that we were able to do.
To do with her. All the best, dear Marketa.
And now.
Nela Riehl
I'd like to welcome Commissioner Werkkanen. Thank you for being here. So, we come to the main point of our agenda today. This is the exchange with the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Henna Virkinen. Welcome.
Commissioner Verkinen, allow me to emphasize that our exchange today is a structured dialogue between the European Parliament and the European Commission. We really appreciate this dialogue and the close cooperation between our institutions. It's essential. Your task is very challenging. Dealing with the media, which has a unique place in our democracies and our culture, we also need to support its commercial development as well as address new challenges posed by market and technology developments.
As a colegislator, the European Parliament and our committee will work with you very closely to achieve these objectives. But I'd also like to emphasize that we will exercise our responsibility to closely scrutinize and assess your actions in this field. To begin this exchange, we would be very interested to discuss the priorities of the call committee for 2026. In particular, the AI applying the AI strategy and recent developments with the upcoming revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the AVMSD. We believe that in a time of rapid technological transformation and evolving market structures, this is extremely important for the future of the European audiovisual and media ecosystem.
The committee has a very strong interest in understanding how the commission intends to address the impact of generative artificial intelligence on the culture and creative sectors. We particularly like to focus on the distribution and discoverability of works, as well as the implications this has on media pluralism, cultural, and linguistic diversity. The committee would also like to know more about the effectiveness of existing and future safeguards for audiences, particularly for minors. We'd also be very interested to know how this forthcoming revision of the AFMFD will interact with the current legal framework in the media sector, such as the European Media Act and Media Freedom Act, and how it can provide legal clarity and regulatory coherence for audiovisual media services, which are operating in an increasingly AI-driven environment. And finally, the committee would like to know more about the upcoming video game strategy.
Commissioner Verkinen, for the next 10 minutes, you have the floor, after which the members of the call committee will have the opportunity to make remarks and ask their questions.
Henna Virkkunen
Thank you very much, honorable Chair, honorable members. So, thank you for inviting me here today. Today marks a tragic anniversary of the Russian full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, and I want to start by saluting the courage and determination of the Ukrainian people. They are Europe's first line of defense. The Russian war of aggression and the related disruption of the European information space have also been major drivers behind our European democracy shield.
With the Democracy Shield, we are clearly recognizing the strategic importance of the European media sector for our democracy and cultural diversity. In many ways, European culture and media are now more crucial than ever, contributing to our security as well. I will now zoom into some of the topical policy developments concerning your committee, the CALD Committee. And afterwards, I'm very much looking forward to hearing your comments and questions. I'll start with the Audio Visual Media Services Directive, which is under evaluation, and a possible revision is taking place this year.
And with this evaluation, we want to make sure that the rules are up to date, responding to today's challenges. So, we have to look at market developments and technological developments. The public consultation on this directive has just started. And the key objective here is simplification. For example, we are now looking at streamlining our rules on advertising and avoiding overlaps with consumer legislation and the Digital Services Act.
We also aim at modernizing the AVMSD, for example, by improving minor protection so that our content standards can address new categories of harmful content for children and overall better protect children and young people online. Access to trustworthy media is also essential. And so, we are looking at the prominence of services of general interest so that citizens can easily access reliable information online. And finally, I want to also reassure you that we are not planning to undermine the rules of the European Works quota, which have had a very positive effect on our cultural diversity in the European Union. We also have ongoing implementation and enforcement of the European Media Freedom Act, and it remains a priority for the Commission now.
I have also underlined this in my first annual progress report on simplification, implementation, and enforcement. The commission is now engaging with our member states to ensure proper implementation. We do not hesitate to use all available tools to ensure full respect for this very important EU law, including infringement proceedings where necessary. And we have already launched one such proceeding, and we are ready to take more steps whenever fundamental media freedoms are at stake. We have also published guidelines for the implementation of the self-declaration functionality by very large online platforms.
These guidelines aim to ensure that media service providers can effectively benefit from the content moderation safeguards. And I'm also very glad that the European Board of Media Services is now fully operational, and I welcome the recent adoption of criteria to guide national media regulators taking action when rogue third-country media services present risks to public security. And under Agora EU, we now propose to allocate €3,200,000,000 to the media strand, covering both audiovisual and news media. This is a very clear political signal that we, in the EU, are already willing to invest in the sustainability and independence of our media ecosystem. The announced Media Resilience Programme will ramp up our support for independent and local journalism in the run-up to the next MFF.
Media literacy is also very crucial nowadays, as we see. Everybody, young and old alike, should be empowered to find quality content and also recognize attempts to mislead or manipulate them. In this context, I work with the commissioner, MacGrath, on the delivery of the democracy shield so that our internal markets, our media, and also our elections are better protected from hybrid threats. As we know, AI brings both opportunities and challenges for our cultural and creative industries. It has made their environment more complex and uncertain.
So, we must ensure that innovation does not come at the expense of creators' rights and fair remuneration. With Commissioner Mikhaelov, we are currently planning the forthcoming AI strategy for the cultural and creative sectors. And, importantly, we have adopted the General Purpose AI Code of Practice under the AI Act. For the exercise of the opt-out provision, it is crucial that our EU law includes safeguards for right holders. We know that the debate around copyright and AI is very lively.
As we start reviewing the copyright directive, we reflect on the effectiveness of the existing rules and also consider if further adjustments are needed. Overall, our cultural and creative industries should not be left behind in the era of AI-driven innovation. And this is why they are also covered in our Apply AI strategy. Online piracy of live events continues to be a serious concern as well, and this committee has been very actively participating in this discussion. And we will now examine possible further actions beyond this 2023 recommendation, since we see that the efforts made so far have not worked sufficiently.
Following the 2022 Parliament resolution on video games and esports, I intend to present a strategy for video games. The video game sector is worth around €180 billion globally, some seven times the revenues of the music industry. So it's a very big industry for us. And it offers a livelihood to about 100,000 people in Europe. But the sector stands at the intersection between culture and innovation, particularly AI innovation, and it is now the sector that is transforming very fast.
One in four European video game employees lost their jobs in the past two or three years. As a commission, we want to help our European video game companies build financial resilience and better promote their games. At the same time, we always have to make sure that a high level of protection is secured for consumers, especially for minors when we speak about video games. We are constantly ensuring that we have a strong framework in place to protect minors online. We know how important a part of everyday life online is nowadays.
And also, children have the right to access information. They have the right to be in contact with their friends. But at the same time, we have to make sure that the online environment is safe for everybody, especially for our minors. A recent example of our work is the action plan against cyberbullying that Commissioner Mikhailov and I presented earlier this month. And Commissioner Mikhailov will come back to this in more detail later today, I understand.
And I invite you all to support its swift and ambitious implementation so that our children can grow up in a safer digital environment across the European Union.
Thank you.
Nela Riehl
You, Ms. Welcome, for this presentation. I now invite the coordinators of the first 4 groups to ask their questions. Please be aware that you only have three minutes because we have a very short amount of time today. And then, Miss Verkinen will have five minutes to address their questions.
So, we'll begin with Mr. Tarr from the EP.
Zoltán Tarr
Sure. Thank you very much, Madam Commissioner. It was very good to hear you, and you have touched upon many items, see. Many very important issues. And I'm very glad to hear that there is progress on practically all of them.
This is really good to hear, and there are many details I'm sure we could talk about. And if we had more time, you could go into more details with respect to practically all issues. I personally find artificial intelligence a remarkable fruit of human creativity. So this is also something which, if we take it in a good sense, is a result of human creativity. But, obviously, there are dangers when we start to use AI. There are two issues that I would like to focus on.
I'm not saying that these are the most important ones, but these are the ones I would like to choose for now. The first one is the deskilling in cultural and creative sectors. There are many creators and editors who are in fear because they slowly become just post editors of machine-created content or creative output. It affects them quite strongly, and this is not just something in the future. It is already happening.
So, my question is: how will the Commission ensure that AI deployment does not structurally weaken Europe's creative workforce? And the second question is: are you considering a stronger transparency obligation on training data and meaningful safeguards to prevent the erosion of professional standards in cultural sectors? The second one, in which you also talked about AI literacy and media freedom. If AI systems shape what citizens read, watch, and believe, AI literacy becomes a democratic necessity, as you also said. We know that people are not very good at distinguishing whether content was created with AI or without AI.
Literacy itself is not enough, but it is very important. I'm coming from a country where we are constantly confused by AI content, especially during this campaign season. And people are not really clear about what to understand and how to understand it. How will you ensure that AI systems and platforms are designed in a way that supports citizens' ability to recognize AI-generated content and manipulation? How will you work with the other commissioners?
You have mentioned already that you are working with some commissioners on AI literacy across member states in a way that genuinely strengthens democratic resilience. These are my questions. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Hannes Heide
Thank you, Mr. Tat. Now, Mister Haydar. Thank you, Vice President. I'd really appreciate you coming to this committee today because it really shows how many challenges we have today in all different aspects. The implementation of the Media Freedom Act is a problem because some countries have stayed behind and have not implemented it yet.
What's important for me when it comes to the Digital Services Act is that we haven't been able to support this package yet. You also addressed AI, which I would be interested in seeing. Do you have answers to the report made by the European Parliament? I'd also like to address the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, especially when it comes to the protection of minors. New categories have been announced. I would like to know what these categories will look like.
And I also have a question about age verification and harmonized standards for age limits in the EU. You haven't been able to give an opinion on this under the time pressure. I hope you'll be able to answer this as well. And also, the digital wallet: would you be able to tell us how the implementation is going there? Another point on the directive is whether the quotas for European works are effective and whether these have been kind of watered down in the directive.
And then, when it comes to sports events and other live events, the piracy of these events, when will we receive a concrete proposal to prevent the illegal sharing of this content? Well, we have a time period in which we will find out about this. And I also thank you for addressing and acknowledging the importance of these problems. Thank you.
And.
Now, Miss Grise from the P.F.
Catherine Griset
Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Commissioner. I'm here. Last December, the commission sanctioned X because of the digital services with a fine of 120,000,000. It is said that X hasn't met its transparency obligations because it didn't check the Blue Pass, didn't check ads posted, and didn't allow researchers to look at the recommendation algorithms.
But X did put forward arguments defending itself. Elon Musk said in November 2022 that paying by bank card or through Apple or Google shops meant that there were efficient indirect ID checks. And when it comes to the algorithms, Elon Musk said that X will publish the source code of the algorithm it uses every month, with very detailed notes for developers. Is the European Commission aware of these arguments? Is the Commission willing to listen to the proposals from X in order to ensure that they respect the rules on digital services?
Now, when it comes to electronic communications, the different kinds of electronic messaging services, such as Telegram, WhatsApp, and so on, allow the exchange of messages without these going beyond the application. This interoperability, I'm sorry, I'm finding it hard to actually say the word, can make the exchange between consumers more fluid, and it can lead to freer competition in the market. But yet, there is very slow progress. Does the European Commission know more about whether these messaging services are deploying them or not? Because we need this to have secure communication.
And then we have foreign companies that dominate the market, and their countries of origin might get injunctions or orders to stop messages. So, will we have European companies coming to the fore? Thank you.
And.
Now, Miss Magoni from the ECO.
Lara Magoni
Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Commissioner. Thank you very much for your interesting and important presentation on this very topical subject. I feel very strongly about this, especially when it comes to protecting young people in this virtual world, so far removed from reality. Given the problems that we have, how will the European Commission ensure that there is efficient, transparent implementation of the AI Act obligations, especially when it comes to the labeling obligation for content that is fully generated by AI?
Thank you.
Nela Riehl
Thank you, Ms. Magoni. Ms. Vakonen, you now have five minutes to react to everything you have heard before the next round.
Henna Virkkunen
Thank you very much for your excellent questions and comments. And it's very important for me to hear the opinions and comments from the members of parliament because you are representing our citizens in different member states, and you also know many challenges and opportunities that you see and hear on the ground. So this is, of course, very important now when we are reviewing different rules to really get this feedback from you, also on how you see the situation. Maybe I'll start with Mr. Tarr's question about copyrights and AI in the creative sector is important because I see that when it comes to the creative sector, AI is really giving both opportunities and challenges.
And I think that the main challenge now is very much about, of course, copyrights and recognizing the rights of the right holders here. We have clear rules in place, but we know that more transparency is needed, and it has to be clear that whenever someone's content is used, fair compensation is also required. So that's why we are looking at our copyright directive now, especially at how we could also better facilitate licensing models, because we see that many of the right holders are also willing to share their content. But of course, they need to have fair compensation for that as well. So this is one of the major topics now in our corporate directive: how we could also facilitate more of that kind of cooperation, because often the right holders are so small that they don't have much negotiating power without really facilitating the licensing models for them.
At the same time, we also see that there are many opportunities in AI for our creative sector. And that's why, with Commissioner Mikhael, we have started to work on the strategy, also on how to support our creative sector and how to use opportunities in AI. Of course, when we speak about the creative sector, it's a very large sector and there are many different arts and industries included. But often, support is needed at the technical level and also at the skills level to help our artists and creators really use all the opportunities we have, especially because of AI. But I see that transparency is very much the key here when we speak about the creative sector and AI-created content.
And we also already have clear rules in our AI Act on transparency, and now we have to really implement and enforce these rules. And like you said, in these times, of course, skills, media literacy, and digital literacy are more important than ever because it's crucial that our citizens themselves have the tools to analyze and critically think about the information they see. And that's why we have to work very closely with our member states so that in our educational systems in different member states, media literacy and digital and AI literacy are really taken into account. And here we are also working closely with Vice President Minsatou when it comes to skills development and education in our Member States, to support them more at the European level. And then maybe I will also start talking about the protection of minors.
It's a very large topic, and maybe there will be more questions about this because it is now a very important priority for us, as we see that technology has been developing very fast. And there are maybe two main concerns when it comes to the protection of minors online. One important aspect is the screen time, that is, how much time minors are spending online and what it means for their well-being. And then the other topic is really what kind of content they are shown in the online world. And that's why we are currently focusing our investigations on very large online platforms, specifically on how they are now checking the age of the user, because we know that according to their terms and conditions, users should be at least 13 years old to open an account on these online services.
So we are currently investigating how the online services check if the user is really 13 years old. And if the user is under 18 years old, how are they checking that? Because under our rules, it's clear that there are specific obligations when citizens under 18 years old are using these services. A very high level of privacy, security, and safety has to be ensured. So that's why we are now really investigating how the online services are checking this, and then we are planning the next steps forward.
We know that many of our Member States are now discussing the minority age, and also Parliament has already adopted some initiative reports on that, with more to come from different committees. And of course, it would be very good to have a European approach when it comes to the minority age for online services because otherwise it will fragment, of course, our digital single market. Even though it is the competence of Member States to set age limits for different services, we are also looking at how we could have a European approach to that. At the same time, we now have six member states who are also about to test our age verification tool. And it's like a mini wallet, part of our digital wallet, a way we could use to show our age without giving our personal data to the online platform.
So this is now in the testing phase in six member states currently. But this is a very important topic for us, also in our AVMS directive and its revision. Protection of minors is also one of the key elements that we are now looking at here.
Diana Riba i Giner
Going to have another round at the table. I can't see any representatives here from Renew, so let's go straight to Diana. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you for being with us here in the Committee on Culture, because this is of huge relevance to this committee, and it's always a pleasure to have you with us.
I'd like to ask you two questions. Over the last few months, and you mentioned this in your presentation, you said that there are lots of different interventions in different member states to reinforce protection. One of them is to do with the minimum age for access to media platforms. We've seen initiatives in Germany, France, and Spain. They're going in different directions with different focuses.
And sometimes, the efforts being made are very disparate. It's not an easy kind of debate. Fundamental rights come into play: privacy, self-control, and so on. But what we do know is that in the digital world, if we have a fragmented approach by different member states, the picture will be fragmented. It won't be coherent, and it won't be effective because media platforms don't work within national boundaries.
So, I'd like to know what the commission is going to do. You said you'd be setting up a group of experts precisely to address this issue from the point of view of supervision and so on. So, I'd like to know whether progress has been made on setting up that group of experts. I'd like to know about its timetable, schedule, and any work that has come out of that. We can't just talk about arbitrary ages, and so on.
We need to talk about pedagogical knowledge, but we need a coordinated European vision and approach. So we'd be very grateful to the commission for being a leader here. If we don't have strong leadership from the Commission, then we'll see fragmentation of all the different laws, and we won't have a coherent picture in this borderless area. The second question is about news and media services. Specifically, Agora EU, there are initiatives and resources for this kind of fight against disinformation and fake news.
Our question is, how are we going to ensure that funding reaches journalists? And above all, how can we ensure that this system of journalists and the media has access to funding? Because we want them to collaborate with the new vote. We want there to be a healthy economic system. We don't know how to strengthen the resources, but we want to ensure that journalists can play that important role.
So, in summary, I'd like to ask: how can we ensure that we use these resources to maintain a healthy ecosystem and that those who need the funding actually have access to it? Thank you. Thank you. The left, Missus Morache.
Carolina Morace
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Commissioner. Implementing the DSA is a key tool against cyberbullying. We can no longer consider this as secondary. Digital violence affects young people and teenagers in a systemic way, and the impact is very deep on many fronts.
Two questions. Do we see cyberbullying as only a digital security issue? We think it should be a cultural and educational priority as well. So, I'd like to know how the European Commission is planning to integrate the action plan with structural measures focusing on digital literacy in schools, teacher training, and family involvement. Prevention should be part and parcel of school curricula and curricula in general in Europe.
The second issue is linked to the digital transition and is all about what is happening against the backdrop of AI. We've met stakeholders such as creators, editors, publishers, and so on. And the concerns are crystal clear. Works are being used to train AI models without any transparency. And, of course, this is driving wages down, among other issues.
And then the issue of copyright and so on: European creativity is our heritage. And if we don't take measures, it means that innovation will be just about the concentration of value in a handful of platforms. So, what specific actions is the Commission planning to take in order to guarantee transparency in the use of protected content, the opt-out right, an effective opt-out right, and the traceability of works used to train AI models? And what are you going to do to ensure that creators get fair remuneration or fair pay? I think we can only move forward if we protect those who create cultural value.
Nela Riehl
Thank you. I can't see anyone from here.
The ESN either, so I'd like to give the floor to the commissioner for five minutes to reply to those questions before we move on to Catch the Eye.
Henna Virkkunen
Thank you very much. And I continue again about the protection of minors because I think many of you are very concerned about this and what kind of actions we could take in this field. As I already said in our rules, it is clear that when minors use online services, a very high level of privacy, security, and safety must be ensured for them. And that's why we are now investigating online platforms and how they are checking the age of the user. And, of course, we are also investigating the content and recommender systems of these services at the same time.
And maybe you recognized or noticed a few weeks ago, we published very important preliminary findings on TikTok. It was the first time ever globally that someone was setting a standard on what addictive design is. In our investigations, we found that TikTok is using very addictive design on their service, and they are trying to keep the users online all the time. This is against our Digital Services Act because, under the Digital Services Act, online platforms have the obligation to assess and mitigate the systematic risks they are posing, for example, to people's well-being. And if the citizens, especially minors, are online all the time, of course, it is harming their well-being, and this is against our rules. So this was a very important decision we made some weeks ago on that, also regarding the addictive design of the content.
And it clearly states that you can't do business at the expense of people's well-being. So there are limits to how addictive the design of the service can be. We also have very good guidelines for online platforms about the protection of minors, and now we are using these guidelines, which were published last summer, as a benchmark when enforcing the rules. So we are looking at how they have designed their service to protect minors, and this also includes a clear part addressing cyberbullying. For example, according to our guidelines for the protection of minors, minors should always have a very easy reporting system to report content they don't like. If there are cyberbullying actions, it should always be very easy for them to report these to online services. For example, online services should have practices in place so that minors cannot be added to different groups without their consent, because often cyberbullying takes place in such groups.
So there should already be that kind of protection mechanism on online platforms that protect our minors and their privacy. And we also have very good networks for safer Internet for kids, for example. So we already have many practices here. But as was said, our President, Wanda Lyon, has decided to also invite an expert panel now to really help and give their advice about the minority age for online services. President von der Leyen has said that she wants this work to be concluded before summer.
So, the expert has been invited to this panel, and they are working on this topic. At the same time, we are now enforcing our current rules regarding the protection of minors. But then we have to discuss, of course, what is a good age to access different services, and we see that some Member States want to, for example, include video games here. Some are speaking about certain online platforms, and of course, it is important to look at what kind of services should be available and at what age, because at the same time, the online environment is a very important part of our everyday life. As it is also said here, it is important to underline the role of media literacy, AI literacy, and the role of teachers and schools when it comes to the digital world and cyberbullying, which Commissioner Mikhailov will be speaking about later today.
It is so important to find a really good balance because the online world is an important part of our everyday life, but we have to make sure that the online world is safe for everybody, especially for our minors. And then we have to look at what kind of services you can really use and access at which age. And then maybe a few words about the thing I didn't have time to answer earlier. I think it was Magoni, and also some other honorable members mentioned the transparency of AI and labeling of AI-created content. And it's covered in our AI Act, and this part is coming into force now in August.
So from August, all that kind of content created by AI should be labelled. And especially that kind of content, which is like deep fakes, for example, as mentioned here, it should be clear to the user that this is created by AI. So this is coming into force now in August, and we are currently working with the guidelines and the standard on how it should be done. But this is already covered, and now we are really working to make it, working also practically from August.
Nela Riehl
Thank you. Seven members have asked to speak under "Catch the Eye." So, please try to limit your comments to just one minute. We'll start with Sabine Verhain for the EPP. Thank you very much.
Sabine Verheyen
Thank you, Vice President. I'm going to speak in German. I'll try to be as brief and precise as possible. First question. First, the AVMD.
The review is coming up. Many points have already been mentioned. My question is: will there be changes not only related to the prominence of child protection, but also in the definitions? In the last AVMD, we had the social platforms and media platforms, but we weren't able to regulate them as much as we would have liked because they hadn't progressed as far as they have now. Now, we have online activities.
You don't even need to click to access the videos. They're automatically shown, and this leads to increased consumption of those videos. So, the question is whether there is a desire to change anything in the definitions so that platforms can be incorporated more into media regulation. Second point: DSA and algorithms. Will there be a reference to that in the legislation, whether it's the DSA, the MVSD, or any other legislation?
How is the commission going to deal with enforcement here? Because in many areas, we have plenty of legislation, but what's missing is implementation and enforcement. What is the commission going to do about that, please? Thank you very much. S and D, please.
Sandro Ruotolo
Thank you very much. Thank you, Vice President Virkunin. Digital sovereignty is at the heart of the challenges that we face. It's not just about making sure that the DSA is respected, but about doing things properly; market operators need to assume their responsibility. In the US, there is a court case against Mark Zuckerberg because of dependence-leading mechanisms and their effect on minors. We need to make sure that we look at democracy.
Yesterday, there was an EMFA working group, and we met with Meta and TikTok on Article 18. We said that reducing the visibility of content through algorithms is the same as constraining dissemination, but they do not want to manipulate their systems. When are you going to check their algorithms? When are you going to do that so that we know whether what they are saying corresponds with reality? And now, on digital fairness, are you going to ban mechanisms that create dependencies, especially when it comes to young people?
Now, with the Digital Services Act, are we going to take steps to ensure that we have sovereignty and independence when it comes to critical infrastructure? Now, the AVME MSD, are you going to have an age limit that will be uniform across the EU? Thank you. Sousa Silva. Mister Sousa Silva?
Thank you.
You,
Hélder Sousa Silva
Madam Chair. Thank you, Commissioner Veconen. It's a pleasure to have you with us. The commission has proposed enlarging the scope of Agora EU to include local and regional media. We need to combat misinformation and reinforce digital literacy.
We can only welcome all of that. Investment is required, but we also need to apply effective rules in cyberspace. And it's in that context that online piracy occurs. That's a problem that has already been raised by my colleague, Mr. Heide. So, I'd like to ask a very clear question.
What specific measures is the commission going to take to effectively combat online piracy? Is it, or is it not, prepared to propose binding legislation to deal with this? Thank you.
Schwerin Vugas.
Thank you very much.
Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus
Commissioner, we have good regulations. We're working on improving them. But I believe what is key here is being coherent in the enforcement and in exerting pressure on those giants, the online platforms, for something to finally change and for online platforms to start paying the penalties. So, I believe this is a key issue that you should focus on. Another important issue is the security application.
I believe it's a great idea that you are working on this solution. But in the documents that are available, we find information that you are planning to make this application available, but it will not be mandatory. Shouldn't it be obligatory? And a third issue: research shows that in terms of cyberbullying in general, whether it's adults or minors, most cyberbullying is against women, especially politicians, activists, and young girls. Do you have any research concerning that and any ideas on how to cope with it?
Emma.
Emma Rafowicz
Thank you, Emma. Thank you, Madam Chair, Madam Vice President. I've got several questions that I'd like to put to you. You talked about what we need to do to create technological and cultural sovereignty in Europe, and I think that's at the heart of the debate. The debate around generative AI is omnipresent in this committee. We talk about it frequently.
I'd like to thank you because you answered the letter that I and other colleagues sent to you about respecting rights for generative AI in Europe. And you said, as you just said, that with regard to the digital platforms, the major platforms all need to respect our rights and our laws in Europe. That's part of the rule of law, and it's part of copyright law. So I'd like to ask whether you support the request that was made in the heart of the VOS report, which was adopted in January, to establish a right to ensure that any generative AI put on the market has rights attached to it. So I think we really do need to ensure that this right is implemented to ensure that our technological and cultural sovereignty in Europe is asserted.
Missus Vichette.
Annamária Vicsek
Thank you, Chair, Madam Vice President. Thank you for being with us today and being open to our questions. I will have two questions. Technological sovereignty is an industrial objective, but it is also a question of democratic balance and cultural survival. How will you guarantee that the enforcement of the Digital Services Act does not become a political instrument against member states?
DSA must protect citizens, but it should not become a tool of political pressure. And my second question is regarding artificial intelligence and digital platforms, since they are increasingly shaping our information space. Now, how will the commission ensure that minorities in regional languages are not pushed to the margins? Technological sovereignty must also mean cultural and linguistic sovereignty. So, will there be dedicated support to ensure that AI systems, digital content, and language technologies fully include all European languages, including minority and regional languages as well?
Thank you.
Marcos Ros Sempere
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for being with us today, Vice President. I wanted to talk to you about media literacy and digital literacy because those are the subjects that we're dealing with in a report. It's going to come out very soon. We're seeing the media landscape dominated by large platforms.
There's a lot of fake news and misinformation on platforms where the consumption of information created by AI is also growing. Also, there are platforms designed almost to make citizens junkies. They're growing very quickly. Many member states are considering adopting new rules on access to social media. We're wondering about having a solution based on the protection of citizens, in particular minors, and their rights at the European level.
And we need to do some work on education as well. In that context, I'd like to ask: does the commission have legislative room for maneuver to do more on this to ensure that the dissemination of fake news does not get out of control? Thank you.
Thank you.
Nela Riehl
You. Madam Wickenen, you now have five minutes to answer those questions. And then, after that, I'd like to give you another 3 minutes to make your concluding remarks. So, eight minutes in total. Thank you.
Henna Virkkunen
Thank you very much. Again, very important questions and comments. Maybe first, I will start with the media part because many of you were touching on this and journalism. And we, of course, see that truly free and independent media is a cornerstone of our democracies. And it's under very hard pressure now, especially because of the economic situation.
A very big part of the advertisement has gone to digital platforms. And also, citizens are not buying newspapers like they used to. And that's why we have to really make sure that we have a more level playing field for our media. And especially, of course, the Digital Markets Act is playing an important role here. Many of you mentioned it earlier when it comes, for example, to the interoperability of different services.
But also, we have to make sure that the very dominant gatekeepers are not misusing their very dominant market position to block new innovations or favor their own services. So, we have to really make sure that we are using these tools, what we have under the Digital Markets Act, to make it a more level playing field and ensure fair competition also for our media in this digital landscape. But at the same time, we are also enforcing our Media Freedom Act because Member States can do a lot to ensure that we have a fairer environment when it comes to media. But then, really, we have also proposed that as a part of Agora EEU, we should be able to support news media and journalism in the future. Of course, it's a small part of the economic picture.
But anyway, it would also be very important to have a sign from the European level that we are able to support our news media. But first of all, we have to make sure that we have a more level playing field for them. And in all the member states, we also have rules that create better transparency and a level playing field for our news media, ensuring good quality and pluralism in our news media. So there are many actions we have to do, and I'm very happy that I want to thank all the CALT Committee members also for your very active participation in the implementation of the Media Freedom Act and also all the support you have been giving in the Member States and at the European level on this. And when it comes to the algorithms and recommender systems of different services, this is, of course, a very important tool nowadays because it really decides what kind of content our citizens see.
For example, our DG ECHA is currently evaluating how these kinds of recommender systems work in different streaming services. For example, what does it really mean for cultural content in different languages when it comes to music services? And it's important to really gather evidence on how these are working and what it means. But also in all the services, like in digital online services, it is something that we are currently investigating: how the recommender system is working. It is said very clearly in our rules that online services have to assess and mitigate systematic risk at all times, and they have to be transparent so that citizens know why certain content is recommended to them. They also have to have the possibility to change the recommender system.
And we know that nearly all the online platforms still have a lot to do in this. They are not transparent enough. And it's not easy for the user to know why certain content is recommended and how to change the recommender system. So, this is something that we continue pushing when it comes to online services. Many of you were also asking about piracy.
There was recently also a plenary discussion on that, and many of you participated because during the last years, we have been monitoring the effects of these recommendations we made in 2023, and we just finalized this monitoring in November. And now we are looking at what will be the next steps because we see that more has to be done also in the field of piracy, as technology is constantly developing, markets are evolving, and different techniques are also used here. So, we now have to look at what the next steps are. But I also want to thank very much all the members for your very active participation and all the information we have received from you on this. And when it comes to cyberbullying, it is not only minors who are faced with this; it is also often women.
Here, we already have this directive against violence against women, and this directive should be transposed in the member states now and in the next year. And here also, the cyber sector is covered. So it will help when the member states, of course, are now implementing it, but it's also something that we are now looking at with our action plan, also how we make sure that the online environment is safe for everybody, especially for minors and other vulnerable groups. And Commissioner Mikhailov will come later today, really in detail, to discuss with you the different actions we proposed and the way forward here. And when it comes to different languages in the field of AI, this is, of course, specifically important for us as Europeans because we have many languages and many cultural differences, as well as a very rich culture in the European Union.
And that's why it's important for us that AI is also trained with our languages and with our content in the European Union. And that's why we are now investing heavily in AI infrastructure to make sure that our SMEs, startups, and different AI developers have access to sufficient computing capacity to train these models. And this is certainly something that we will also look at now in our AI strategy for the cultural sector: how we can really support languages and different cultural sectors because they are all, of course, very specific. We have to look at the right actions because we see that this is one of the strengths of the European Union—really our culture, languages, and creative sector that we have in the European Union. And they have to be able to benefit from AI, and at the same time, their work and rights, of course, have to be protected during the time of AI. And very important comments: many of you also mentioned the importance of media literacy, digital literacy, and AI literacy.
And of course, this is always something that is very much the competence of Member States when we speak about educational systems, but we can also share best practices and find different programs at the European Union level, and this is something that we are doing. And here, the CAULT Committee, of course, is also playing a very important role because, at the same time, we have to have that kind of rules in place to make sure that we have a fair, safe, democratic online environment in the European Union. At the same time, we have to really empower our citizens and give them tools so that they are able to navigate this new digital world and benefit from it. And everybody can feel that they are empowered and safe in the online world. But we know that there is still a lot of work ahead of us.
And I think that we have good rules in place, and now it's important to really implement and enforce them. At the same time, also update them, as many of you said, this AMS and corporate directive need to be updated now when we are evaluating the current situation and how we have to update them because of technological and market developments. This is a very important year for all of us, and I'm very much counting on your support and also your knowledge about these topics now, as we open public consultations on this and gather information from different member states and stakeholders about what the next steps should be. Thank you very much, everybody.
Nela Riehl
Thank you, Miss Verkinen, for speaking to us today, and thank you to the MEPs for the lively discussion. We'll be very happy to see you in the group again in the future. Can the coordinators please come back at 2 PM? And then the members should come back at 2:30.
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