Advocacy, Artistic Freedom, News
FERA contributes to European Commission call for evidence on the Democracy Shield and highlights the vital role of artistic freedom
26 May 2025
The European Democracy Shield is a flagship initiative of the European Democracy Action Plan aimed at strengthening democratic resilience across the Union. This new framework intends to better safeguard the EU’s democratic infrastructure by addressing emerging threats to media freedom, civil society, and electoral integrity.
The European Commission has launched a call for evidence to gather stakeholders’ insights to shape the Democracy Shield’s priorities ahead of its expected adoption in the 3rd quarter of 2025. In this context, FERA brings forward the perspective of European audiovisual authors and underlines the vital role of artistic freedom in safeguarding democracy.
The Federation of European Screen Directors (FERA) represents over 20,000 directors working in film, television, and streaming across Europe. Founded in 1980, FERA advocates for directors as primary authors of audiovisual works, responsible for their creative cohesion and artistic integrity. We support policies that protect directors artistic and economic rights, reinforcing the cultural significance and integrity of audiovisual works in 21st-century Europe.
FERA welcomes the European Democracy Shield initiative and highlights the essential role of artistic freedom in sustaining democracy. The ability of filmmakers to create and share diverse narratives without undue interference is a cornerstone of pluralistic societies and an indispensable ally of media pluralism.
However, filmmakers across the EU face growing threats to this freedom. These include ideological pressures leading to censorship or self-censorship, commercial pressures linked to media concentration and funding gatekeeping, and personal attacks, including blacklisting, that jeopardise livelihoods by excluding filmmakers from funding, festivals or professional opportunities based on their political views or creative work.
AI brings a new layer of risk. While it can support creative processes, overreliance on generative AI at the expense of human-led artistic choices risks homogenising narratives. Generative AI can also be used to create propaganda material that mimics authentic storytelling, blurring the line between art and manipulation. Article 50 of the EU AI Act, requiring clear labelling of AI-generated or altered content, is a crucial tool for maintaining a level playing field with human-centric artistic expression, transparency and public trust.
Equally vital is the independence of audiovisual media services, public service broadcasters (PSBs) and public audiovisual funding systems. These are pillars of Europe’s cultural and democratic infrastructure, alongside policies supporting local audiovisual ecosystems and cultural diversity. Both public and private media actors are vulnerable to politicisation, and when their independence is undermined, so is the democratic function of audiovisual creation.
To confront these challenges, FERA urges the development of EU-wide indicators and monitoring tools to assess pressures on artistic freedom, including:
— Quantitative data on personal threats, funding restrictions, censorship and the impact of Generative AI on artistic work.
— Qualitative insights to identify ideological, commercial, technological and personal pressure factors.
Artistic freedom must be explicitly recognised within the Democracy Shield as a pillar of democratic resilience, alongside media pluralism and civil society protection.
A vital first step is raising awareness through reliable, comparable data across Member States, laying the groundwork for effective response mechanisms. Education and media literacy efforts should also address artistic freedom and promote critical awareness of AI-generated content.
Finally, it is essential to institutionalise engagement with filmmakers and creative stakeholders in the implementation of the Democracy Shield to ensure it reflects on-the-ground realities and remains responsive to evolving threats.
In conclusion, democracy relies not only on free elections and accurate information but also on artistic freedom, which enriches public discourse and cultural life. The European Democracy Shield is a critical opportunity to embed artistic freedom in the EUs democracy resilience framework, ensuring filmmakers can continue to challenge, entertain and inspire across Europe. FERA stands ready to contribute the experience and expertise of its European network in support of this initiative.