A secure and trusted online environment should enable EU citizens to have access to trustworthy and diverse news content and factual programming.

This preparatory action aims to set up and/or develop European media platforms that improve citizens’ access to trusted information from across the EU. Initiatives funded under this call will include editorial and technical media projects involving broadcasters, publishers, media developers and other organisations from across the EU active in the media sector, to enhance and expand their content offer through innovative formats and increase their reach.

The transparency and openness of technical tools and editorial arrangements are fundamental components of the call. Users should feel safe, informed when accessing information and protected from undesired manipulation techniques. When used, algorithms should be explainable and verifiable, and designed to accommodate citizens’ fundamental rights as well as values linked to news quality standards, such as fact-based communication, unbiased reporting, independence, pluralism, diversity of viewpoints, fairness, transparency, and respect for human dignity, equality and human rights.

These technical arrangements should be combined with a credible news content offer and reach as many EU citizens as possible in as many European languages as possible, for example through human and automatic translation or by involving multipliers.

This call will fund the setup and development of European media platforms, increasing the available offer of quality information across the Union. As a result, citizens will have access to quality content in as many EU languages as possible, representing the different geographic regions of Europe, helping to increase their trust in quality news content online.