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The State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted on 21 April 2017 amendments to the Federal Statute on Information, Information Technologies and Protection of Information (see IRIS 2014-3/40) that introduce a prohibition of foreign and restrictive regulation of national online cinemas. The act provides the notion of "the owner of an audiovisual service" and enumerates its responsibilities. Such an “owner” is defined as “the owner of a website and/or the website page on the Internet, and/or an information system, and/or a computer programme that are used to form and/or organize the distribution...

The Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului (National Audiovisual Council - CNA) imposed fines worth 1,167,500 lei (~EUR 259,400) in 2016 for breaches of the audiovisual rules (see inter alia IRIS 2008-5/27, IRIS 2009-1/29, IRIS 2010-8/42, IRIS 2011-1/44, IRIS 2011-6/31, IRIS 2012-1/39, IRIS 2012-4/36). According to the CNA 2016 Annual Report, unanimously adopted on 4 April 2017, the Council imposed 176 sanctions last year, of which 42 fines, 133 public warnings, and a decision to broadcast the text of the sanction for 10 minutes. Most sanctions were imposed for breaches of the legal framework with...

On 18 April 2017, the Autorità per le garanzie nelle comunicazioni (the Italian Communications Authority - AGCOM) issued a decision by which - for the first time ever - it has applied the ban set forth in Article 43, paragraph 11, of the Italian Code on Audiovisual Media Services (CAMS). That provision  was introduced in 2004, and applies to undertakings that achieve a turnover exceeding 40% of the overall combined sales in the electronic communications services markets. The provision prevents such undertakings from holding either a controlling stake or a qualified minority stake (a “collegamento”)...

On 24 April 2017, Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, issued a Note to broadcasters on election programming for the General Election taking place on 8 June 2017. It follows Ofcom’s statement in 9 March 2017 that it had amended its rules relating to coverage of elections with new rules in relation to party broadcasts and rules applying to the BBC for the first time (see IRIS 2017-5/6). The Note reminds broadcasters that Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code requires that the coverage of elections and referendums complies with rules requiring due impartiality and a number of other special provisions. In...

On 6 March 2017, Ofcom determined that Fox News, a USA news channel and broadcast as a digital satellite channel, had breached Rules 9.4 and 9.5 of Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code by allowing advertising material or promotional material to be screened as if editorial content. During its Hannity show on 5 and 6 August 2016, Fox News broadcast short segments each lasting about two minutes entitled Fox Extra. These segments covered various subjects including cooking, health, technology, and travel, as well as guest interviews. On 5 August, a health section lasting about two minutes comprised of an extract...