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 News From You
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Week ending April 28, 2018
EP negotiators and the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU agreed on substantial rules for audiovisual media services, including digital platforms, on Thursday evening.
The revised legislation will apply to broadcasters, but also to video-on-demand and video-sharing platforms, such as Netflix, YouTube or Facebook, as well as to the live streaming on video-sharing platforms. EP negotiators managed to secure enhanced protection for children, stricter rules on advertising, and at least 30% of content in programmes of TV channels and VOD platforms must be European.
Protecting minors from violence, hatred, terrorism and harmful advertising
MEPs introduced “effective and efficient” new rules into the law that prohibit any content inciting violence, hatred and terrorism, while gratuitous violence and pornography will be subject to the strictest rules.
While co-regulation and self-regulation are prioritised, video-sharing platforms will now be responsible for reacting quickly when content is reported or flagged by users as harmful. At the request of the Parliament, platforms need to create a transparent, easy-to-use and effective mechanism to allow users to report or flag content. Technical solutions to explain the nature of the content in the hosted videos and follow-up when a video has been flagged are also needed.
Health and safety concerns regarding minors are also addressed. The new law includes strict rules on advertising or product placement in children’s TV programmes or content available on video-on-demand platforms. Measures should be put in place to effectively reduce children’s exposure to publicity on unhealthy food or beverages. Product placement and teleshopping will be prohibited in children’s programmes, while member states can decide individually whether they also want to exclude sponsorship from children’s programmes.
EP negotiators also secured a personal data protection mechanism for children, imposing measures to ensure that data collected by audiovisual media providers are not processed for commercial use, including profiling and behaviourally targeted advertising.
Advertising limits redefined
The new rules impose a maximum 20% quota of advertising of the daily broadcasting period between 6.00 and 18.00, giving the broadcaster the flexibility of adjusting their advertising periods. A prime-time window between 18:00 and 0:00 was also set out, during which advertising will only be allowed to take up a maximum of 20% of broadcasting time.
30% of audiovisual content on the video-on-demand platforms’ catalogues must be European
In order to support the cultural diversity of the European audiovisual sector, MEPs ensured that 30% of content should be European, also in the video-on-demand platforms’ catalogues.
Video-on-demand platforms are also asked to contribute to the development of European audiovisual productions, either through a direct investment in content or a contribution to national funds. The level of contribution in each country should be proportional to their on-demand revenues in that country (member states where they are established or member states where they target the audience wholly or mostly)
The Parliament also secured measures to ensure the integrity of the signal. It applies to smart TVs and means that the media service provider cannot add a window with content to the screen during a programme, without first having the agreement of the broadcaster. Rules are also foreseen to ensure that media services providers continuously and progressively make audiovisual services more accessible for people with disabilities.
Quotes
EP negotiator Petra Kammerevert (S&D, DE) said: "We made major breakthroughs in the negotiations and now have a political agreement on all pending key issues. The outcome is well balanced, especially with regard to the scope of the directive, including video-sharing platforms and audiovisual content on social media, a more level playing field for all communication stakeholders, and protection of European works.
EP negotiator Sabine Verheyen (EPP, DE) said: “By applying similar rules to similar services, irrespective of whether the media content is consumed online or offline, we have made EU regulation fit for the digital era. Protecting children and minors has always been a top priority for us. We have now negotiated a level of protection for internet media services similar to that in place for traditional broadcast media. The transparency rules on advertising, and in particular on product placement and sponsorship, now apply to user-generated content uploaded to video-sharing platforms. This will protect consumers, especially children and minors.”
Next steps
Following the informal agreement, the text will have to be voted on by the Culture and Education Committee, which is leading the negotiations. A vote in plenary to endorse the new rules is likely to take place in September (tbc)
Today, the Commission is proposing measures to tackle disinformation online, including an EU-wide Code of Practice on Disinformation, support for an independent network of fact-checkers, and a series of actions to stimulate quality journalism and promote media literacy.
The recent Facebook/Cambridge Analytica revelations demonstrated exactly how personal data can be exploited in electoral contexts, and are a timely reminder that more is needed to secure resilient democratic processes. Today the European Commission is taking steps forward in the fight against disinformation to ensure the protection of European values and security.
Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said: "Disinformation is not new as an instrument of political influence. New technologies, especially digital, have expanded its reach via the online environment to undermine our democracy and society. Since online trust is easy to break but difficult to rebuild, industry needs to work together with us on this issue. Online platforms have an important role to play in fighting disinformation campaigns organised by individuals and countries who aim to threaten our democracy."
Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, said: "We are calling on all actors, in particular platforms and social networks who have a clear responsibility, to act on the basis of an action plan aiming at a common European approach so that citizens are empowered and effectively protected against disinformation. We will closely monitor the progress made and may propose further actions by December, including measures of regulatory nature, should the results prove unsatisfactory."
Commissioner for the Security Union Sir Julian King said: "The weaponisation of on-line fake news and disinformation poses a serious security threat to our societies. The subversion of trusted channels to peddle pernicious and divisive content requires a clear-eyed response based on increased transparency, traceability and accountability. Internet platforms have a vital role to play in countering the abuse of their infrastructure by hostile actors and in keeping their users, and society, safe."
Based on the independent report published in March 2018 by the High-Level Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation as well as wider consultations carried out over the past six months, the Commission defines disinformation as "verifiably false or misleading information that is created, presented and disseminated for economic gain or to intentionally deceive the public, and may cause public harm".
In the latest Eurobarometer survey, 83% of respondents said that fake news represents a danger to democracy. Respondents were particularly concerned by intentional disinformation aimed at influencing elections and immigration policies. The survey also emphasised the importance of quality media: respondents perceive traditional media as the most trusted source of news (radio 70%, TV 66%, print 63%). Online sources of news and video hosting websites are the least trusted source of news, with trust rates of 26% and 27% respectively.
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has published a study on fake news and disinformation. It points out that two thirds of consumers of online news prefer to access it through algorithm-driven platforms such as search engines and news aggregators, and social media websites. It also states that market power and revenue streams have shifted from news publishers to platform operators who have the data to match readers, articles and ads.
Measures to tackle disinformation online
To address these concerns and trends, the Commission is proposing a series of measures to tackle disinformation online. These include:
• A Code of Practice on Disinformation: By July, and as a first step, online platforms should develop and follow a common Code of Practice with the aim of:
• Ensuring transparency about sponsored content, in particular political advertising, as well as restricting targeting options for political advertising and reducing revenues for purveyors of disinformation;
• Providing greater clarity about the functioning of algorithms and enabling third-party verification;
• Making it easier for users to discover and access different news sources representing alternative viewpoints;
• Introducing measures to identify and close fake accounts and to tackle the issue of automatic bots;
• Enabling fact-checkers, researchers and public authorities to continuously monitor online disinformation;
• An independent European network of fact-checkers: this will establish common working methods, exchange best practices, and work to achieve the broadest possible coverage of factual corrections across the EU; they will be selected from the EU members of the International Fact Checking Network which follows a strict International Fact Checking Network Code of Principles;
• A secure European online platform on disinformation to support the network of fact-checkers and relevant academic researchers with cross-border data collection and analysis, as well as access to EU-wide data;
• Enhancing media literacy: Higher level of media literacy will help Europeans to identify online disinformation and approach online content with a critical eye.To this end, the Commission will encourage fact-checkers and civil society organisations to provide educational material to schools and educators and organise a European Week of Media Literacy;
• Support for Member States in ensuring the resilience of elections against increasingly complex cyber threats, including online disinformation and cyber attacks;
• Promotion of voluntary online identification systems to improve the traceability and identification of suppliers of information and promote more trust and reliability in online interactions and in information and its sources;
• Support for quality and diversified information: The Commission is calling on Member States to scale up their support of quality journalism to ensure a pluralistic, diverse and sustainable media environment. The Commission will launch a call for proposals in 2018 for the production and dissemination of quality news content on EU affairs through data-driven news media;
• A Coordinated Strategic Communication Policy, drafted by the Commissionservices, combining current and future EU initiatives on online disinformation with those of Member States, will set out outreach activities aimed at countering false narratives about Europe and tackling disinformation within and outside the EU.
Next steps
The Commission will shortly convene a multi-stakeholder forum to provide a framework for efficient cooperation among relevant stakeholders, including online platforms, the advertising industry and major advertisers, and to secure a commitment to coordinate and scale up efforts to tackle disinformation. The forum's first output should be an EU–wide Code of Practice on Disinformation to be published by July 2018, with a view to having a measurable impact by October 2018.
By December 2018, the Commission will report on the progress made. The report will also examine the need for further action to ensure the continuous monitoring and evaluation of the outlined actions.
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