To address the overwhelming influence of tech companies like Meta and Google, new integrated policies that better reflect contemporary media use are needed. During a talk for NDP Nieuwsmedia, Corien Prins, chair of the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), strongly pleaded for a review of the role of government in the media landscape. She said the media’s crucial democratic functions need more support. “We cannot afford to waste time.”
Her speech followed the recent WRR report “Attention for Media: Toward new safeguards their democratic functions,” which focused on the changing context and the growing power of platforms and Big Tech.
“There is every reason to take a different look at the role and responsibility of government in the media landscape,” Prins said. According to the WRR, current media policy is no longer adequate to safeguard the democratic functions of the media. Prins argued that the government must play its role much more actively and argued that current policy is based on outdated principles.
Prins indicated that the context in which the media operates has changed dramatically. “The supply is endless, platforms are supreme, and journalistic revenue models are under pressure.” At the same time, the media remain indispensable to a healthy democratic society. The government’s job is to ensure that the media can continue to perform their three crucial democratic functions: informing citizens, monitoring power, and providing a platform for debate. “How you fill these functions is not a foregone conclusion,” Prins said, ”but clearly, the media system must be independent, reliable, and accessible.”
Influence of Big Tech and platforms
Prins warned against the ever-increasing influence of Big Tech products such as Facebook and YouTube, which primarily direct information consumption. “These companies appeal to our lowest instincts,” Prins said, referring to the attention economy in which social media compete for our attention through incentives that often do not contribute to rational debate. She argued that platforms are no longer mere conduits: “They are making content choices by removing certain offerings and making specific offerings accessible through algorithms.”
“We must act now, because the future of our democracy is at stake.”
Corien Prins
A worrying development, according to Prins, is that fewer people consume pluralistic information. “The Media Authority found that 78% of young people pick up their news via Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.” Prins wondered, “How far do we let these platforms go in directing our information consumption and thus in shaping our views on social issues? What if only a handful of primarily foreign commercial companies (Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, and certainly TikTok) dictate where the attention of a large portion of citizens in our Dutch society is directed?”
Constitutional obligations
An essential part of Prins’ talk was the role of the government in ensuring freedom of expression, as enshrined in the Constitution and in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). She explained that in the past, the government’s role was mainly one of aloofness, but because of the power of Big Tech, this must now change. “Developments in the media landscape also call for a review of the interpretation of constitutional obligations. The government must act more actively to ensure the media can fulfill their democratic functions,” Prins said. This does not mean, however, that government should direct media content. “It’s about creating the right context and preconditions.”
Recommendations from the WRR
Prins concluded her lecture with four concrete recommendations from the WRR report. According to her, these recommendations are crucial to creating a secure and reliable information environment:
- Maximum utilization of European laws and regulations to create a reliable and secure information environment.
- Important information for democracy must be prominently visible and easy to find.
- Strengthening local and regional journalism.
- Encouraging users to take responsibility for their role in the new media system.
The urgency of change
According to Prins, it is imperative that the government no longer wait and see. “Just turning a few knobs on the standing policy will not get us there. We need a new integrated policy that matches today’s media system,” she stressed. Prins warned that if the government does not act quickly, the democratic functions of the media will be seriously compromised. “The media are an indispensable infrastructure in our society. Without an adequate media policy, we risk losing our grip on reliable information and vital democratic debate.”
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