The above-mentioned developments meant that new services emerged and also led to a change in audiences’ viewing habits. Due to social media and so-called video sharing platforms, user-generated content gained importance.
The EU Parliament voted for a new directive for audio-visual media in October 2018. This is an updated version of the “Television Without Frontiers” Directive (TVWF Directive), which first set the minimum standards in 1989. In the meantime, the framework had been amended twice, in 1997 and in 2010. The newly adopted versions applies not only to television, but also to portals like YouTube or Facebook and to streaming services such as Netflix. These platforms have the same audience as television, and they are also media contributing to the forming of opinions.
The new framework strengthens, inter alia, the protection of children and young persons – minors should be better protected from content which glorifies violence, hatred and terrorism, as well as from pornography. However, in contrast to the new copyright directive, the so-called upload filter was not discussed in this directive. There must, however, be an easy way for users to report problematic content. The portals are only responsible for this content once they become aware of it.
The newly approved directive also contains new advertising regulations. Advertising may occupy a maximum of 20 percent of airtime between 6am and 6pm, and the same applies to airtime between 6pm and 12am. In principle, commercial breaks must be freely distributed. A period of 30 minutes may include one commercial break. Pursuant to the 2010 directive, a maximum of 12 minutes of advertising per hour was permitted.
Rules have been tightened for advertising and product placement in children’s programmes and on video-on-demand platforms. In particular, the protection of children’s personal data must be guaranteed. Here, the data collected must be used neither for user-tailored advertising nor for other commercial purposes. Additionally, audio-visual media services and programmes must not be sponsored by companies, whose core business is in the production or the sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products or of electronic cigarettes.
In general, advertising must be easily recognised as such; surreptitious advertising is forbidden. Advertising must neither be used as a subliminal influencing technique nor violate human dignity, open up for discrimination or encourage behaviour, which threatens health or safety or the protection of the environment.
Furthermore, a quota of 30 percent has been introduced for the video-on-demand platforms for European content. These works must also be highlighted accordingly. Moreover, media service providers must also make a financial contribution to the production of European works.
Apart from this, the directive relies on self-regulation, which means that media service providers should commit to codes of conduct. The member states are basically free to issue stricter rules.
The new set of rules will bring television and new audio-visual media to the same level and close previously existing loopholes in the regulations. Hopefully, this will also create more legal certainty in practice, not only for users but also for service providers.
About the Author:
Dr. Béatrice Schütte studied law in Hamburg and Bordeaux. She completed her doctorate at the University of Aarhus in 2014. Her main areas of research are comparative law, liability law, private international law and EU law. She also loves foreign languages.