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Klaus Unterberger "The Time of Naivety is over"

With these words, Verá Jourova, Vice-President of the EU Commission and Commissioner for Values and Transparency, expressed her concern about the current state of the digital transformation. A handful of globally operating data corporations have taken extensive control of the internet. Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok have created new economic empires and dominate young people's media consumption with their social media offerings. This is a remarkable business success, however connected with massive negative effects: Data collection and supervision, algorithmic control of information, fake news and filter bubble effects transform enthusiasm about the internet into a state of alarm. The latest surge of innovation in digital technology also triggers not just fascination, but - at the same time - fear: Artificial intelligence creating texts and images beyond human control. At the same time the changes of perception of media is also worrying. Increasingly, people do not seek access to editorial media and rely on the newsfeed in their social media consumption. The alarming perspective: the "news-will-find-me" generation receives its information from the very sources it trusts least.2 But if media quality is not just a look back at what has already been produced - it has to look into the future: What is quality on the net? Can we rely in the online sources? Is the flood of social media washing away all quality criteria? Can we accept that people get completely different answers to the same question from their digital search engine because artificial intelligence constructs personalized information with the help of algorithmic data analysis? And more importantly, can we trust this content? The question of quality is more urgent than ever in view of the massive disruptions in the media economy and media perception. Not only market shares and shareholder value are at stake, but the trustworthiness and credibility of information as the basis for a democratic public sphere. The crucial question is whether technologies and artificial intelligence can be publicly controlled. In the case of Google, Facebook and TikTok, the answer is no. How these companies collect data, according to which interests they evaluate it, how they use it, whether for commercial exploitation or even for intelligence surveillance, has not been answered yet. The US government has already classified the Chinese operator of TikTok as a "security risk" because of its collection of data from Americans3. If this is indeed the case, wouldn't Google & Co. also be a security risk for Europeans? The question of who owns digital technologies is a decisive quality criterion: Can I trust the information on the net? Is the communication space secure? Who checks algorithms and artificial intelligence? Do the media and those who disseminate public communication have controllable regulations and functioning quality assurance? How can media users recognize quality on the net, if so, by which criteria? ORF Public Value has initiated intensive analyses on this in recent years: With the development of "Public Network Value"4, Prof. Thomas Steinmaurer has created a basis for determining which quality criteria are relevant for the fulfilment of the public service mission and remit in the digital age. In numerous contributions, scientific analyses and an international study, the 'transform'-process has dealt with the digital transformation of the ORF5, which was accompanied by a series of public debates in the "ORF DialogForum"6. Currently, the Public Value Study "Entertainment in the Digital Age" examines the question of how Public Service Media should behave in the face of Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime.7 The search for a trustworthy internet - not just market-compatible but also democracy-compatible - is one of the most relevant challenges of today's world: This is why the project "A European Perspective"8 can be seen as a trendsetting beginning of how digital transformation is already being used today for a cross-border public service. Eleven public broadcasters are participating in the pan-European initiative under the leadership of the "European Broadcasting Union". Its aim is to develop a digital European newsroom. News stories from the participating broadcasters are collected and processed by an automated translation system for the individual national languages. The advantage for media users: A range of quality-checked reporting from different European countries will be created, providing access to authentic information at the push of a button. In addition, work is being done on the development of a public- service algorithm that could be used for a trustworthy source of information while observing existing journalistic quality standards as well as the guidelines on personal privacy and data protection and, above all, under public control. "A European Perspective" is creating pioneering work in the development and implementation of digital technologies beyond commercial interests and thus creates a contribution to the often-requested European public sphere. This is precisely the point of the "Public Service Internet Manifesto"9, which was developed in cooperation with 200 scientists worldwide. It addresses European media policy, but also explicitly the Public Service Media. It calls for a digital infrastructure oriented towards the common good that produces not only "shareholder value" but above all "stakeholder and Public Value" as an alternative to commercial platforms. Public Service Media, their resources, but also their competences should play a decisive role. Within a few months, the "Call for Action" was supported by more than 1,300 academics and media experts worldwide, including Jürgen Habermas, Noam Chomsky, Evgeny Morozov and many others. However, ORF cannot wait for European solutions. Due to the current challenges of digital media production, the question of quality must be answered in a practical way. Therefore, all ORF regulations, especially its "Social Media Guidelines"10 are of particular concern to online media production. This is also the case for ORF quality control11. Whether audience or expert interviews, Quality Profiles, or Quality Checks, whether Public Value studies or Public Value reports: they all include the dimension of digital transformation. The focus is on the public service mission and remit, the fulfilment of which is obligatory even in the digital age. Have we answered all relevant questions? Obviously, no. The developments and the dynamics of innovation of technological development do not allow conclusive and final answers to the question of media quality supporting democracy and citizenship. Whoever claims quality on the net must also prove it. After all, media users also change their opinions from time to time, especially when the media world changes. After all, democracy is also always looking for new ways to protect itself against corruption and authoritarian attacks, against populism and "alternative" truths, not least against data oligarchies, surveillance and manipulation. If the "time for naivety" is over, the question of trust in media is more important than ever. Public Value, the distinctive quality of Public Service Media, is of particular importance in context to numerous crises, like war and climate emergency, polarization of society and populism. Especially when it comes to maintaining and supporting a "res publica", a democratic public sphere in the digital age and developing it for the future.