European Symposium to Discuss the Place of Public Media and the Regulatory Framework of Social Media in the Digital Environment

Hardly anyone doubts today the media has undergone revolutionary transformation and perform a ubiquitous role. Media convergence signifies not just a change, but the emergence of qualitatively new relationships between industries, markets, technologies and different types of audiences. The most striking emblem of the environment we are immersed in is social networks and their increasing impact on our life.

What do we know about the social media universe and its multifunctionality, what are the effective regulators of media processes nowadays, and how are human rights protected on the network where the technological and the social intersect? The EC Horizon 2020 COMPACT project (2017 – 2020) sets itself the ambitious task to answer these and more questions by raising stakeholders’ awareness about key areas affecting convergence and social media. One of the channels for disseminating the information collected and the conclusions drawn is through holding regional symposia and establishing direct communication with various stakeholders.

A COMPACT project symposium entitled “Technology and regulation in a convergent environment. The role of social media and its implications” will be held in Sofia on November 11 and 12, 2019. Co-organizers are the Bulgarian partners Media 21 Foundation and BASSCOM. For a day and a half Bulgarian and foreign experts, lawyers, academics and journalists will discuss a wide range of issues related to the risks in social networks, regulation in the digital environment, access to information and smart journalism, as well as future media trends in the digital age.

Two important reports turning to the future will be presented at the House of Europe. The first deals with the place public media occupy in contemporary media configurations and the opportunity to develop innovative forms of communication through new-type partnerships. One of these opportunities is the interaction of public media with the so called creative media clusters.

The second report analyzes courts' decisions on social media in a number of EU countries and the extent to which they can protect fundamental human rights. Today when the issue of social media regulation is particularly relevant, it is important to emphasize that any attempt to create new norms must take into account the existing media framework and its regulatory potential in relation to social media.

The problem of overregulation in the digital environment is also one of the highlights of the forthcoming symposium.

The program is available at http://compact-media.eu/events/