Italy

[IT] Regulation on the Publication of Public Opinion Poll Results

IRIS 2002-8:1/29

Maja Cappello

Autorità per le garanzie nelle comunicazioni (AGCOM)

On 25 July 2002, the Autorità per le garanzie nelle comunicazioni (Italian Communications AuthorityAGCOM) adopted a Regolamento in materia di pubblicazione e diffusione dei sondaggi sui mezzi di comunicazione di massa (regulation on the publication and broadcasting of public opinion poll results, Deliberation n. 153/02/CSP). A public consultation on this topic was launched on 22 January 2002 (Consultazione pubblica in materia di pubblicazione e diffusione dei sondaggi sui mezzi di comunicazione di massa, Deliberation n. 16/02/CSP).

Article 1 of the Regulation provides that opinion polls have to be conducted according to statistical methods approved by codes of conduct adopted by the most representative national and international professional associations and published according to the conditions defined by the Regulation. It applies to all mass media, including audiovisual and multimedia communications realised by any means, even over the Internet; publishing; press agencies; daily and periodical newspapers, even their electronic versions.

According to Article 2, the publication of opinion polls has to be accompanied by a data box that gives information about the research organisation carrying out the survey; the name of the client; the method by which the information was collected; the sector effectively represented; the achieved sample size and its geographical coverage; the full text of the questions asked and the website where a document containing all relevant technical and methodological information concerning the survey has been collected. This "document" must also be uploaded onto the website of AGCOM (Article 3). As regards the print media, the stipulated information has to be published in a data box; on television, it has to be transmitted during all the time dedicated to the description of the survey, and on radio, it has to be read aloud to the public. AGCOM is entrusted with the power of monitoring compliance with the Regulation and of verifying whether the "document" contains all of the relevant information: violations are punished by fines of up to EUR 100,000 and an order to rectify any incorrect or incomplete information; in cases of non-compliance with the orders of AGCOM, the fines may be increased to up to EUR 250,000.