European Union: Adopted EDPS opinion on the European Media Freedom Act proposal

On 11 November 2022, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) issued Opinion 24/2022 regarding the European Media Freedom Act Proposal (Opinion) in response to a consultation by the European Commission of 16 September 2022. The Opinion sets out several recommendations for EU lawmakers, notably to clarify that the Act does not affect the EU legislation on personal data protection and privacy, in particular the GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive and the Law Enforcement Directive. In addition, it recommends providing a clarification that journalists fall under the scope of the Act since it currently covers only service media providers. The Opinion also recommends to further define and restrict the possibility to waive the protection of journalistic sources and communications, in line with the principles of strict necessity and proportionality. Further, the Opinion proposes a general ban on advanced surveillance technologies, with few and closely circumscribed exceptions. Finally, it recommends that the Act explicitly establishes guarantees of independence for the authorities in charge of handling complaints, and to explicitly clarify whether any personal data would be processed in the context of the cooperation between national regulatory bodies.