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The Rundfunkkommission (Broadcasting Commission) of the 16 Länder, which are responsible for media regulation in Germany, adopted the key aspects of public service broadcasting reforms at a closed meeting in Bingen am Rhein on 25/26 January 2024. The meeting was held a few days after the publication of a report by the Zukunftsrat (Future Council), an independent panel of experts set up by the Länder to consider the future development of public service broadcasting. The Future Council had been tasked with developing a long-term vision for the future of public service broadcasting and...

On 7 February 2024, the Verwaltungsgericht Hannover (Hanover Administrative Court – VG Hannover) rejected an appeal by the television broadcaster RTL against a complaint lodged by the Niedersächsische Landesmedienanstalt (Lower Saxony state media authority – NLM). The complaint concerned an alleged breach of the requirement for clear visual separation of advertising and programme content during "split-screen" advertising broadcast during an RTL television programme. "Split-screen" advertising for a smartphone, in which editorial content and advertising were...

On 18 January 2024, the Bundestag (German federal parliament) debated the so-called Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (Digital Services Law), which was tabled by the federal government to implement the Digital Services Act (DSA) at national level, for the first time. While the DSA, which will apply across the EU from 17 February 2024, regulates matters including due diligence obligations for online services in the battle against disinformation and hate speech on the Internet and their enforcement at EU level, the government bill, known as the DDG-E, lays down the relevant responsibilities in Germany. The...

On 14 December 2023, the state parliaments of Berlin and Brandenburg adopted the Staatsvertrag über den Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (state treaty on the Berlin-Brandenburg state broadcasting authority – rbb-Staatsvertrag), which had been signed by Brandenburg on 3 November 2023 and by Berlin on 17 November 2023. Following the exchange of ratification documents, the treaty entered into force on 1 January 2024. The new legal framework for Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg state broadcasting authority – rbb) replaces the Staatsvertrag über die Errichtung einer...

On 1 January 2024, the amendments to the Medienstaatsvertrag (state media treaty – MStV) that were brought in under the Vierte Medienänderungsstaatsvertrag (fourth state treaty amending the state media treaty – 4. MÄStV) entered into force after being ratified by the parliaments of the 16 German Länder (federal states). Among other things, the MStV sets out the legal framework for public service broadcasting in Germany. The latest amendments are designed to strengthen the compliance, transparency and monitoring of public service broadcasters. In order to promote good...