A right-leaning news outlet in Belgium, 21News, violated journalistic ethics by publishing the complete transcript of the speech made by US Vice-President J D Vance at the Munich Security Conference in 2025, the French-speaking ethics commission ruled.
According to the ethics commission on March 3, 21News broke the “media cordon sanitaire”, the strategy where mainstream media outlets deliberately isolate what they label far-right, populist, or extremist actors.
It said the outlet showed a lack of contextualisation of the remarks made and the omission of certain information.
21News “violated ethics and, in particular, its social responsibility as a media of information”, the commission ruling stated.
Rather than fully publishing Vance’s speech, the outlet should have added information that he “represented an anti-democratic and liberticidal party”. According to Collins, the definition of “liberticidal” is: (of actions or policies) tending to destroy freedom; oppressive.
The outlet should also have used the time it had between the time of the speech and the publication to verify, cross-reference and put Vance’s statements in perspective, the commission said.
Without this, the outlet had allowed “the individual to roll out their talking points and communication strategy without any distance or pushback,” it said.
“As a result, all or part of the audience could come to believe that several claims made in the speech — even though they were contradicted by the facts or were racist — were accurate and legitimate.
“This carried the risk of turning the public against the functioning of European democracies or of inciting racism, discrimination, hatred or violence towards migrants. ”
Listen to Vance’s warning: why the cordon sanitaire belongs in the past, writes @TomVandendriese. pic.twitter.com/YpIfTvuo2m
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 1, 2025
In a reaction to the verdict, 21News wrote in a comment: “This decision raises serious questions and testifies to a paternalistic view of journalism, according to which citizens should not be able to read political statements directly without prior journalistic filtering.”
It noted that readers should be able to verify exactly what Vance said and that his speech was broadcast by all the major media globally and is available on YouTube.
The outlet also highlighted that the two plaintiffs in the case were anonymous.
“Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference marked a notable moment in transatlantic relations,” it said.
“It immediately provoked many reactions and discussions in Europe. We can judge this controversial discourse, be in deep disagreement with his analysis or his tone. But it is precisely for this reason that it is a significant document for relations between Europe and the United States.
“In this regard, it is also an important document. 21News is neither for nor against the US administration, but believes that it is necessary that everyone can make their opinion.”
According to 21News, the ethics commission found the primary source problematic.
The outlet noted that Vance explicitly addressed freedom of expression in Europe, referring to examples where social networks would be under pressure to remove certain content, as well as measures that he said are increasingly restricting public debate.
American Vice President JD Vance criticised the EU at the Munich Security Conference on February 14, accusing European nations of anti-democratic behaviour. https://t.co/pYdi5l8OKu
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 14, 2025
