Sanchez proposes limiting state funding for media to combat disinformation

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez today defended limits on state funding for media outlets and greater transparency about ownership and audiences to tackle disinformation and guarantee journalistic independence.

This Wednesday, Sánchez presented in the Spanish Parliament the general guidelines of the Action Plan for Democracy, which, according to him, is essentially a transposition of the Community regulations and directives formulated in the Action Plan for European Democracy presented by Brussels at the end of 2020 and the European Law on Freedom of the Media adopted last March.

The Socialist stressed that all MEPs in the country, with the exception of the far-right Vox party, had voted in favour of the European legislation and called on parties to do the same in the national parliament, promising a round of contacts with political parties, academics or media representatives in the coming weeks and months to try to reach a consensus on concrete proposals.

The right-wing opposition, however, has accused him of making the proposals now only to deflect attention from allegations of corruption and influence peddling involving his wife, Begoña Gómez, which will be heard in court this week, and of wanting to keep quiet and censor media outlets that have reported on the case and others involving people close to the prime minister.

Sanchez defended a series of measures in parliament aimed, he said, at “responding to the massive spread of lies and disinformation” plaguing major democracies.

Most of the measures he defended were aimed at ensuring greater transparency and independence of the media, as well as guaranteeing press pluralism and truthful and reliable information for citizens, he said, stressing that journalism was a “fundamental tool for building democracy” and that “trustworthy” media were necessary in the face of the spread of lies that seek to destabilize democracy”, especially through “digital pseudo-media”.

Among the measures he proposed was a limit on public funding of private media, which in Spain is done through institutional advertising, in order to prevent publications in which “public financiers outnumber readers and political parties buy editorials with all taxpayers’ money.”

Sánchez also defended new rules to make public information about media ownership and audiences more transparent. He also proposed other measures to protect editorial independence and journalists’ rights, to protect press pluralism and competition and avoid concentration in the hands of a few owners, or to protect consumers of large digital platforms.

The Prime Minister announced the allocation of 100 million euros in European funds to support the digitalisation of media outlets in order to create databases, improve productivity or strengthen cybersecurity.

In addition to the media-related measures, Sánchez proposed to MPs, as part of the same Action Plan for Democracy, to review legislation related to freedom of expression and electoral laws, make media debates between candidates mandatory, and establish rules for the publication of data and the methodology underlying polls.

On the other hand, the Spanish government leader proposed strengthening the so-called “rights of citizens to respect and correction”, stating that “the media must be free and citizens, in turn, must be able to defend themselves if they are the subject of slander or unfounded accusations.”

The president of the People’s Party (PP, right) Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Sánchez of coming to parliament today not out of any democratic principles, but solely with the aim of “avoiding explanations” in the case concerning the woman and “judging and punishing according to the law” some media outlets.

“Stop threatening to censor and answer questions,” Feijóo told Sánchez, accusing the prime minister of wanting to “control what is published” instead of providing clarification.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal also accused Sánchez of wanting to do what he told parliament today, which is to “buy editorials” and carry out “ideological persecution” of the media.

Sánchez promised to present this “democratic rebirth” plan in April after admitting he had considered resigning, saying he and his family had been victims of a “dirty machine” that spread lies and disinformation online, which they then became embroiled in right-wing and far-right political debates and prosecuted on complaints from extremist groups.