France

[FR] CSA president wants regulation extended to digital audiovisual services

IRIS 2018-3:1/13

Amélie Blocman

Légipresse

In expressing his good wishes for the New Year, the President of the national audiovisual regulatory authority (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel - CSA, Olivier Schrameck summed up the achievements of the past year and presented the CSA’s prospects for the coming year. He called for an “essential readjustment of all the regulatory equilibria”, with regulation extended to include digital audiovisual services, in terms of both scope and method. This would cover relations between the traditional audiovisual media and services platforms, the articulation of public-service and market offers, the balance between those audiovisual media that use radio frequencies and those that do not, the balance between linear offers and the multiplication of access routes, and demand for delinearised offers.

Entirely in keeping with the declarations made by the French President (see IRIS 2018-2/17) that opened the way for such an extension of regulation, 2018 could, in this respect, “constitute a real turning point”, said Olivier Schrameck.

Despite the 17 legislative acts concerning the CSA passed by the previous legislature, the desired readjustment has been “only marginal”. Therefore, it is deemed “necessary to ensure the profound rebooting of functions and regulatory methods in the digital era: relations between the traditional audiovisual media and services platforms, the articulation of public service and market offers, the balance between those audiovisual media that use radio frequencies and those that do not, the balance between linear offers and the multiplication of access routes, and demand for delinearised offers,” added Mr Schrameck.

Olivier Schrameck listed the various areas of implementation: (i) accompanied, concerted and supervised self-regulation (such as the implementation of the classifications adopted in the video-game sector for the protection of minors), (ii) co-regulation, (iii) participatory regulation, and (iv) more generally, the various forms of flexible legislation - settling differences, mediation, conciliation, and taking into account “inter-professional” agreements - which would “make it possible to prefer discussion to confrontation, and agreement to subjection”.

In conclusion, he emphasised that “… regulation is not just about guidance, and even less about sanctions, but more about promotion and federation, taking account of diversity and complementary [aspects] within a naturally cohesive chain of values”.