Balancing on a Tightrope in an Age of New Online Media?

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores the significance of the book’s empirical and normative study of the interface between European data protection regulation and professional journalists, artists, and both academic and non-academic writers within the contemporary online media. The study has elucidated practical attempts at regulating professional journalism through a contextual rights-balancing paradigm, argued that this should be generalized to other traditional publishers, and proposed that it be systematically developed through co-regulation and strategic enforcement. It is contended that, notwithstanding the rise of new online media, an examination of the regulation of traditional publishers still has strong significance in and of itself. These actors continue to possess disproportionate information power and perform a vital role in distilling, explaining and putting new information and ideas into the public realm. The themes of the book may also contribute to thinking on new online media regulation. Whilst such media often does not orientate itself towards a public discourse, some kind of contextual balancing (even if often internal to default data protection norms) remains necessary. Co-regulation, encompassing not just platforms but also users, could also play some role in specifying that (albeit stricter) balance. Finally, not least given the severe resource constraints of Data Protection Authorities (DPAs), strategic enforcement is likely to be necessary in this context also. Through engagement with both traditional and new media, data protection is becoming a holistic regulator of the information ecosystem, thereby highlighting its importance within contemporary society.