The President of the Assembly of the Republic said this Monday that the main issues require consensus and not artificial divisions in Parliament, in a speech in which he stressed that his mission will be to ensure the principle of freedom of expression.
These positions were outlined by José Pedro Aguiar-Branco in the closing speech of the international conference “Personal Data Protection: What kind of future are we building?” — an initiative promoted by the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD).
In his speech, the President of Parliament noted that the digital world “seems increasingly vast, complex and rich in opportunities for culture, democratization of knowledge, economics, social dialogue and civic participation.”
“But this also hides new problems and new crossroads. To look to the future, we need to reach consensus again. Topics that are consensus in society should not be the focus of more or less artificial divisions in parliament. They also should not be blocked due to lack of dialogue,” he emphasized.
Regarding the issue of cyberspace in particular, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco noted that in Spain a government pact to protect children when using digital media is being discussed, and in France the government has commissioned a report on the impact of computers and mobile phones on childhood.
“In Portugal, first contact with pornography occurs on average at the age of eleven. It’s early, too early. Likewise, discrimination and inequality in digital media. If there’s one thing all the research shows, it’s that the families most in need also have the lowest levels of digital literacy,” he warned.
For the President of the Assembly of the Republic, social networks “offer new forms of socialization and relationships, new possibilities for dialogue, as well as political and social organization.”
“Networks can be a place where elected officials and constituents become closer. They can be the stage at which institutions regain relevance and take the pulse of society. But they can also be an open field for disinformation and radicalism, contributing to the division of social problems and mutual misunderstandings, the collapse of all mediation and social fragmentation. This also requires fundamental, coherent, dialogical reflection, attentive to the signs of peace,” he added.
In the first impromptu note, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco quoted the historical Social Democratic lawyer Miguel Veiga, who died in November 2016, as saying that “democracy is extremely fragile.”
“Democracy is under attack, sometimes more openly, sometimes more covertly. Its defense is a serious challenge facing our generation,” he said, before citing the importance of “respecting the right to difference” in a democracy and renewing recent controversy over possible restrictions on freedom of speech in parliament.
Referring to his role in the case in which Chegi President Andre Ventura made disparaging remarks about the Turkish people, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco stated that the “then dry and direct manner” in which he expressed his thoughts “is the fruit and result in a democratic manner life in the world and as a result of reading accumulated over many years.”
“For me, the highest good of freedom of expression must be preserved with great care, because if we dare to make a seemingly minor restriction, we may enter a world that leads to censorship – an unacceptable exercise for anyone who wants to live.” in a free society,” he argued.
The President of Parliament went even further on this issue, considering it “an absolutely important issue to allow freedom to be expressed in a healthy, strong and transparent way.”
“Here in the house of democracy and I, as President of the Assembly of the Republic, I will always be the agent who wants to preserve it in its maximum expression. This is my sense of mission,” he added.