Brussels, Feb. 10, 2021 (Lusa) – Portugal's Secretary of State for European Affairs on Wednesday in the European Parliament defended the importance of regulating the internet, giving as an example the risks of the spread of conspiracy and misinformation theories in the United States.

"Recent weeks have shown that even the most robust democratic structures are not safe from harm. What happened across the Atlantic should be a warning for our debate in Europe, as our democratic societies are not immune to the damaging influence of hate speech, disinformation, 'fake news' and incitement to violence," said Ana Paula Zacarias.

Representing Portugal's presidency of the Council of the EU, she spoke in a debate in the Brussels hemicycle on the "balance between democratic scrutiny and fundamental rights on social networks".Referring also to what had happened in the United States - in the light of false allegations of fraud in the November presidential elections, mainly spread on social networks, which culminated in former President Donald Trump's attack on the Capitol - Ana Paula Zacarias commented that "these events also underlined the growing importance of online platforms and social networking companies in shaping public debate.

And the growing interconnection between digital transformation and democracy, one of the priorities of the Portuguese presidency.

Pointing out that it is now "unquestionable" that social networking companies have the status of public squares, "which means they must have responsibilities for improving citizen participation and ensuring freedom of expression", she warned that "however, freedom of expression is not absolute: it must be balanced, with the aim of combating hate speech, incitement to violence and radicalisation, both online and offline", as she stressed, "what is illegal offline must be illegal online".

The Secretary of State noted that in addition to the criticism that social platforms have repeatedly been targeted "for the lack of transparency in the use of algorithms, the moderation of content and by targeting users based on large amounts of personal data generated by online activity", the digital space has also effectively become "a breeding ground for conspiracy and fake news theories".

"Misinformation spreads faster than any virus. Education, media and digital literacy are the best vaccines," she said.

Online' platforms they are expected to "play their part in this common struggle", she stressed, however, "it is up to democratic institutions, our laws, our courts to establish the rules of the game, to define what is illegal and what is not, what should be removed and what should not be".

With all the regulations currently being finalised in negotiations between the institutions in this field, there will soon be a "more transparent digital environment", to which she also expects the contribution of the Action Plan for the Media and Audiovisual sectors, "which will be the subject of Council conclusions", which the Portuguese presidency intends to conclude.

In addition, the Portuguese presidency will organise the Digital Assembly in Lisbon in June, where the concepts of digital democracy and digital rights will be discussed, as well as a high-level conference on the future of journalism and the link with Artificial Intelligence, with a special focus on the robotisation of news production.

"Today's times have shown the inescapable reality that what goes on online shapes our lives, beliefs and choices. It profoundly influences what we buy, who we vote for, who we listen to, and even our opinion on vaccines".

So we need to avoid social networks "acting as resonance chambers that suppress different points of view", and we need to "ensure that citizens are equipped to manage the flow of information they are exposed to every day", because "in times like these, believing in unreliable information can be lethal".

Ensuring that the Portuguese presidency of the Council "is committed to working with the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European External Action Service on these crucial issues", Ana Paula Zacarias concluded by anticipating some of the questions that the institutions together must answer.

"How can we adapt our legal instruments to the speed and immediacy of the online world? How to achieve and guarantee the right balance between freedom of expression, media pluralism and the protection of citizens against online hatred and disinformation? How to improve the digital education of our citizens? The work of the institutions is needed to answer these questions", she concluded.

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