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The European Parliament adopted on 12 December 2006, at its second reading, a recommendation on the protection of minors and human dignity and on the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and online information services industry.

The right of reply in the online media has been heavily discussed also in the previous years, including a much contested 2004 Council of Europe Recommendation on the right of reply in the new media environment. In practice the recommendation has not been implemented in the member countries, but various human rights groups have expressed their serious concerns regarding its practical effects on the freedom of expression.

The new document proposed by the Council considers again that: “It is appropriate for the right of reply or equivalent remedies to apply to on-line media, and to take into account the specific features of the medium and service concerned.”

The recommendation adopted by the European Parliament is now vaguer than the initial text discussed in 2005 suggesting that the member states should consider “the introduction of measures into their domestic law or practice regarding the right of reply or equivalent remedies in relation to on-line media, with due regard for their domestic and constitutional legislative provisions, and without prejudice to the possibility of adapting the manner in which it is exercised to take into account the particularities of each type of medium. “ There is no hint on what should be considered as “on-line media” or how an actual implementation of this recommendation could be done.

The right of reply in the new media is also included in the new Audiovisual Media Services Directive recently adopted in its first reading by the Parliament, but the text now refers only to the TV-like services on the web.

On the same occasion the Commission announced its interest for two other activities for the safety of the Internet that have been discussed in the previous EP meetings. The first one regards the possibility of introducing a European free phone number or of extending an existing service to assist Internet users by directing them to available complaint mechanisms and information resources and providing information for parents about the effectiveness of filtering software. The second initiative is related to the possibility of supporting the establishment of a generic second level domain name reserved for monitored sites committed to respect minors and their rights, such as .KID.eu.

Keep children safe while browsing the Internet, Parliament says (12.12.2006)

European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a recommendation on the protection of minors and human dignity and on the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and online information services industry (12.12.2006)

Common Position adopted by the Council - Recommendation on the protection of minors and human dignity and on the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and on-line information services industry (18.09.2006)

EDRI-gram: Council of Europe insists on right of reply (29.12.2004)

EDRI-gram:Rapporteur EU parliament: more liability for ISPs (6.04.2005)