Portugal’s Media Regulatory Authority (ERC) will monitor the European Commission’s legislative process on artificial intelligence, studying the impact of this technology on the media, according to the activity plan for 2024, released on Wednesday.
“Following the approval, in April 2022, of the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on artificial intelligence (“AI Act”), and with a trialogue agreement expected by the end of this year, the ERC will remain attentive to the legislative process, studying the impact of this technology on the media sector and audiences,” reads the document approved on 16 August and published today.
The organisation explained that its aim is to “define a regulatory policy adjusted to this new technological and legal reality that guarantees its security, transparency, verifiability, non-discrimination, environmental protection and human scrutiny”.
For 2024, the ERC’s strategic lines are to prioritise the fulfilment of the new tasks resulting from the transposition of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, to deepen its knowledge of the functioning of the new markets and media consumption trends and to participate in the implementation of the EU digital markets act and digital services act.
The regulator also intends to monitor possible legislative processes to amend the Press Law and the Radio Law, continue to monitor developments in the Action Plan for European Democracy in the media area and closely follow the proposal for a regulation on the transparency and targeting of political propaganda, as well as the legislative proposal to protect press freedom, the so-called Media Freedom Act.
Finally, in the coming year the ERC plans to monitor compliance with the new European Code of Conduct on Disinformation, update the technical and human conditions necessary to fulfil its mission and improve the efficiency of its response in serving citizens and regulated entities.
The ERC has also emphasised the promotion of media literacy in its activity plan for next year.
In the document approved on 16 August and published today, the ERC states that it will continue its line of intervention in the field of media literacy, “namely through the promotion of awareness-raising and training activities for citizens” and the “production of content and educational resources that promote media literacy skills”.
It also intends to participate “within the scope of the Informal Group on Media Literacy (GILM), in co-organising/participating in the “Seven Days with the Media 2024 initiative”, as well as collaborating “in other national and international projects”.
The regulator also intends to carry out a study and test instruments to monitor the media literacy (ML) obligations of state broadcaster RTP and video-sharing platform providers registered with the ERC and to monitor the evolution of the ML field in Portugal.
