Home > 1.3.1 Freedom of voters to form an opinion > Principles for a Fundamental Rights-Complaint use of Digital Technologies in Electoral Processes
 
 
 
Download file    
 
 
Paragraph 98
 

According to the OSCE Online Media Self-Regulation Guidebook “the basic rule that needs to be respected is that the more internal the self-regulatory process is, the more effective, the more proportionate and the more respectful of fundamental rights it will be.” At the same time, the Guidebook also warns of several risks, namely with respect to effectiveness (ultimately, companies cannot force anyone to comply with their codes), priorities (internet intermediaries are private companies whose priority is to make profits and stay in business, not to protect freedom of expression) and undesirable incentives (resource-limited law enforcement authorities will de-prioritise particular online offences if they believe that they can rely on internet intermediaries).