PM Bettel Discusses Fight against Disinformation with Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders, President of the Forum on Information and Democracy

On Wednesday 23 August 2023, Luxembourg's Prime Minister and Minister of Communications and Media, Xavier Bettel, met with Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and President of the Information and Democracy Forum.

Luxembourg is part of the International Partnership for Information and Democracy, initiated by Reporters Without Borders, which aims to assess the structure of the communication and information space and to provide regulatory recommendations for the strengthening of democracy and the fight against disinformation.

On the agenda was a discussion on the current challenges regarding the protection of democratic information spaces. More specifically, the Journalism Trust Initiative, an independent and transparent certification initiative developed by RSF aimed at fostering and promoting media that meets ethical and independent rules, and the main principles of regulation of audiovisual media on a global scale, to avoid informational asymmetry, were discussed.

During the discussions, Prime Minister Bettel stressed that any commitment to a free, pluralistic and independent (media) landscape is a commitment to democracy and he congratulated Reporters Without Borders and the Forum on Information and Democracy for their activities. He pointed out that the 2024-2030 Agreement signed with the Public Service Media 100.7 (radio station in Luxembourg) already evokes the Journalism Trust Initiative. He also presented the press assistance reforms and the strengthening of the Public Service Media 100.7 which testify to the efforts in favour of a strong media landscape. Prime Minister Bettel also presented the latest government initiatives aimed at improving the work of journalists and their protection, such as the planned introduction of a specific right of access to information for professional journalists which takes into account the particular needs of the media in the execution of their mission. 

Finally, Prime Minister Bettel welcomed this exchange which will be able to feed the reflections carried out within the framework of the reform of the regulatory framework of the electronic media and within the framework of the assessment of the law relating to the aid scheme in favour of professional journalism.