MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Potential for applying freedom of speech protections to content created or published through automated processes – E-001160/2025

Question for written answer  E-001160/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Christine Anderson (ESN)

Freedom of speech is of the utmost importance, particularly in an online context. Due to the digital medium, freedom of speech manifests itself in various new forms. For instance, automatically generated content published by news sites according to predefined rules and procedures, content collected from the internet and edited by artificial intelligence before publication (with or without human oversight) and user-generated content. Consequently, the question arises regarding the potential for applying freedom of speech protections to content created or published through automated processes.

• 1.Does the Commission agree that automatically generated and published content following rules established by humans falls under the principle of freedom of speech, thereby making existing legal protections fully applicable?
• 2.Provided they are not controlled by fully autonomous artificial general intelligence, does the Commission agree that content generated by human-designed bots should also enjoy freedom of speech protections, as these operate based on rules created by individuals who themselves possess freedom of speech?
• 3.Does the Commission acknowledge that distinguishing between online bots and humans can often be very challenging, and in cases of uncertainty, does it further agree that online expressions should by default be considered human authored and thus fully protected under freedom of speech principles, unless there is clear evidence to the contrary?

Submitted: 19.3.2025