"Malicious" bloggers under scrutiny in new EU repo
"I blog, therefore I am" is the mantra of a new generation of bloggers who express their thoughts and views on the internet. However, according to a new report for parliament's Culture Committee a minority with malicious intentions or hidden agendas pose a danger. It calls for a voluntary code to identify the interests of the authors, clarification of their legal status and an ombudsman to guarantee media freedom. The report - drafted by Estonian Socialist Marianne Mikko - also warns against the concentration of media in the hands of a few companies and says that the media is vital to safeguarding democracy. The report calls for social and legal guarantees to journalists and editors. "The media remains a powerful tool, which should not be treated solely in economic terms," she said. It also stresses the importance of protecting media pluralism and multilingualism. Fellow MEPs in the Culture Committee approved the report on 3 June. It will be put to the vote in the full plenary in the future. For those who do not blog then a "blog" is short for Web log. Blogs are publicly available web pages, with personal views and links expressing the opinions and observations of a particular person, usually on a specific topic or theme and are usually updated regularly reflecting the personality of the author. "We do not see the bloggers as a threat" Speaking about her report, Ms Mikko told us "the blogosphere has so far been a haven of good intentions and relatively honest dealing. However, with blogs becoming commonplace, less principled people will want to use them". Asked if she considered bloggers to be "a threat", she said "we do not see the bloggers as a threat. They are in position, however, to considerably pollute cyberspace. We already have too much spam, misinformation and malicious intent in cyberspace". She added, "I think the public is still very trusting towards blogs, it is still seen as sincere. And it should remain sincere. For that we need a quality mark, a disclosure of who is really writing and why." "They should not be restrained" Belgian MEP Ivo Belet (who acted as an advisor on the report for the Industry committee) said "weblogs and user generated content contribute in a lively and fresh way to a colourful and many-sided media landscape. They should not be restrained". The centre right EPP-ED member did concede however that some legal issues such as privacy and the right of reply need to be addressed. German Liberal Jorgo Chatzimarkakis acted as advisor for the Economic and Monetary committee. He told us that "bloggers cannot automatically be considered a threat, but imagine pressure groups, professional interests or any other groups using blogs to pass on their message. Blogs are powerful tools, they can represent an advance form of lobbyism, which in turn can be seen as a threat". He said "any blogger representing or expressing more than their personal view should be affected by this report." snip http://tinyurl.com/44szux I think we can guess were they are going with this.
"I blog, therefore I am" is the mantra of a new generation of bloggers who express their thoughts and views on the internet. However, according to a new report for parliament's Culture Committee a minority with malicious intentions or hidden agendas pose a danger. It calls for a voluntary code to identify the interests of the authors, clarification of their legal status and an ombudsman to guarantee media freedom. The report - drafted by Estonian Socialist Marianne Mikko - also warns against the concentration of media in the hands of a few companies and says that the media is vital to safeguarding democracy. The report calls for social and legal guarantees to journalists and editors. "The media remains a powerful tool, which should not be treated solely in economic terms," she said. It also stresses the importance of protecting media pluralism and multilingualism. Fellow MEPs in the Culture Committee approved the report on 3 June. It will be put to the vote in the full plenary in the future. For those who do not blog then a "blog" is short for Web log. Blogs are publicly available web pages, with personal views and links expressing the opinions and observations of a particular person, usually on a specific topic or theme and are usually updated regularly reflecting the personality of the author. "We do not see the bloggers as a threat" Speaking about her report, Ms Mikko told us "the blogosphere has so far been a haven of good intentions and relatively honest dealing. However, with blogs becoming commonplace, less principled people will want to use them". Asked if she considered bloggers to be "a threat", she said "we do not see the bloggers as a threat. They are in position, however, to considerably pollute cyberspace. We already have too much spam, misinformation and malicious intent in cyberspace". She added, "I think the public is still very trusting towards blogs, it is still seen as sincere. And it should remain sincere. For that we need a quality mark, a disclosure of who is really writing and why." "They should not be restrained" Belgian MEP Ivo Belet (who acted as an advisor on the report for the Industry committee) said "weblogs and user generated content contribute in a lively and fresh way to a colourful and many-sided media landscape. They should not be restrained". The centre right EPP-ED member did concede however that some legal issues such as privacy and the right of reply need to be addressed. German Liberal Jorgo Chatzimarkakis acted as advisor for the Economic and Monetary committee. He told us that "bloggers cannot automatically be considered a threat, but imagine pressure groups, professional interests or any other groups using blogs to pass on their message. Blogs are powerful tools, they can represent an advance form of lobbyism, which in turn can be seen as a threat". He said "any blogger representing or expressing more than their personal view should be affected by this report." snip http://tinyurl.com/44szux I think we can guess were they are going with this.