Search results : 1507

On 30 January 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in the case of Sekmadienis Ltd. v. Lithuania, concerning freedom of expression and the regulation of commercial advertising deemed offensive. Notably, the Court unanimously found that an advertising company’s freedom of expression had been violated by the imposition of a fine under Lithuania’s advertising law. The applicant in the case - a Vilnius-based applicant company ran an advertising campaign in October 2012 introducing a clothing line by the designer R.K., including advertisements on R.K.’s website. The...

On 17 November 2017, a self-regulatory code on transparency in YouTube advertising was announced by the Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media). A large group of YouTube users who create professional online video content have developed, with the help of the Dutch Media Authority, the Social Code: YouTube, in order to be more transparent about advertising in online videos. The Social Code: YouTube was a response to the results of research by the Dutch Media Authority on the frequency with which products and brands are visually shown in videos on YouTube. During the development of this...

On 22 December 2017, a decree was adopted amending several elements of the terms of reference of France Télévisions. The first, main amendment concerns the entry into force of Act no. 2016-1771 of 20 December 2016 banning commercial advertising in children’s programmes on public television (see IRIS 2017-1/13). As of 1 January 2018, France Télévisions programmes aimed primarily at children under the age of 12 no longer contain advertising (other than generic messages promoting goods or services related to children’s health and development or general interest campaigns). This restriction applies...

The national audiovisual regulatory authority (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel - CSA) has published its first report on the representation of women in television advertisements. Law No. 2017-86 of 27 January 2017 on equality and citizenship gave the CSA specific responsibility in the fight against sexism in advertising, as illustrated by the new provisions of Article 14 of the Audiovisual Act: “It [the CSA] shall monitor respect for the dignity of all persons and the image of women who appear in televised advertising.” It was in this context that the CSA, determined to make an active contribution...

In a decision of 12 October 2017, the Austrian Verfassungsgerichtshof (Constitutional Court) ruled that the legislator was entitled to exempt Internet advertisers from paying the advertising tax levied on print media and radio ads (case no. E 2025/2016-16). The decision was taken in response to a total of 23 complaints from newspaper and magazine publishers and radio stations, who had claimed that the advertising tax was discriminatory and that the 2000 Advertising Tax Act was unconstitutional. According to Article 1(1) and (2) of the Act, the advertising tax applies to advertising services provided...