Keyword – database

Simon, Éva:

Transparency of Media Ownership in the European Media Freedom Act: Rules and Missing Points

This study analyses the requirements set in the draft European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) and its accompanying Recommendation about transparency in media ownership. Transparency in media ownership is a prerequisite for measuring media pluralism and limiting media concentration. This paper examines the possibilities for the EU legislator to create a legal framework for the establishment of a public, up-todate and accessible database, in particular in the light of the November 2022 judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It argues that, in the case of media service providers, the public interest outweighs privacy and personal data protection while considering the media’s social role, and proposes concrete solutions for the legislator to ensure the adequate transparency of media ownership.

Keywords: access to information, database, data protection, EMFA, EMFA Article 6, privacy, transparency