On 3 December 2025, during its 28th plenary meeting, the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) approved the draft Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers on online safety and empowerment of users and content creators.

Developed by the Committee of Experts MSI-eSEC, the draft Recommendation tackles a major challenge in the digital age: how to achieve freedom of expression online by protecting individuals from harm such as disinformation, harassment, manipulation, unfair moderation, and biased algorithms?

Adopting a human rights-based approach to online risks, the draft Recommendation thus aims to create an enabling online environment, one in which everyone, particularly vulnerable or marginalised groups, can participate freely and safely.

The draft Recommendation advocates a new generation of legal frameworks to promote accountability of online platforms, especially those wielding significant influence over the online information ecosystem. Its purpose is to place under democratic and independent public scrutiny the way in which platforms fulfil their human rights responsibilities and deal with risks that affect users’ human rights, particularly in the design of their services, including algorithmic systems for content curation and moderation.

To enhance user agency, the draft Recommendation underlines the need of “empowerment by design”, ensuring that users have easy-to-use tools to shape and personalise their platform experience. Transparency remains a central pillar, with calls for greater access for researchers to platforms and their data in the public interest. Expanded and clearer procedural rights are proposed, including prompt notification of content moderation decisions and access to independent appeal mechanisms. The text also encourages collective action by users.

An accompanying Explanatory Memorandum was also adopted, offering insights into the aims and scope of the draft Recommendation’s provisions.

The draft Recommendation will now be submitted to the Committee of Ministers, with possible adoption expected in early 2026.