MPO - Study on Media Plurality and Diversity Online

The Study on Media Plurality and Diversity Online assessed the state of media pluralism in today’s information ecosystem.

In particular, the research focused on three main areas:

• The definition of media, taking into account the great and new variety of actors that shape public opinion;
• The prominence and discoverability of general interest content: what are the new tools that influence our access to news and information, and how do they work?
• The media market: what are the measures to guarantee market plurality in the media sector? Are they effective in tackling the increasing dominance of a few digital platforms?

With a focus on Europe, the project was funded by a tender from the European Commission to produce a study on Media Plurality and Diversity Online and involved four partner universities: the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom; CiTiP (Centre for Information Technology and Intellectual Property) of KU Leuven ; the Institute for Information Law of the University of Amsterdam (IViR/UvA); the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (Studies in Media, Innovation and Technology, VUB- SMIT).

The main objective of the study was to provide the Commission, member states and national regulators with elements to support the analysis of media plurality and diversity issues as well as the suitability of the current media-specific rules to safeguard media freedom and pluralism.