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AGCOM, the Italian Communications Authority and Digital Services Coordinator, has officially approved the regulation on age verification for access to online platforms providing adult content. The measure aims to ensure minors are effectively protected from the dangers of the internet. The new regulation, annexed to Resolution No. 96/25/CONS, sets out the compulsory procedures for video-sharing platforms and websites offering adult content in Italy to verify users’ age (so-called age assurance or age verification). This initiative enforces Article 13-bis of Legislative Decree No. 123 of...

On 19 March 2025, AGCOM (Italy’s Communications Authority) issued the first two Italian authorisations for the provision of audiovisual media services via alternative communication networks (excluding digital terrestrial and satellite broadcasting) to Fast Channel Network S.r.l. for the channels “Soap Latino” and “Soap Turco”. These are free, linear television channels classified as FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) channels, which operate over the Internet protocol (IP) and are, therefore, exclusively accessible via Internet-connected TVs. The...

On 18 March, the Georgian Parliament adopted, in the second reading, a law on the registration of foreign agents, which, according to the Georgian authorities, would be a literal translation into Georgian of the US FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act). The new law will complement the Law of Georgia "On transparency of foreign influence", which entered into force in 2024 (for more information on the Law of Georgia "On transparency of foreign influence", see: IRIS 2023-4:1/30, IRIS 2024-5:1/16, and IRIS 2024-6:1/13). While the 2024 law operates with the notion of an “organisation...

The prohibition of AI practices such as harmful manipulation, social scoring, and real-time remote biometric identification, among others, has applied since 2 February 2025.  These practices are prohibited since they present threats to European values and fundamental rights. On 4 February 2025, the European Commission adopted guidelines to provide insights into the Commission’s interpretation of the prohibitions. The guidelines are non-binding.  The guidelines explain that the prohibition of manipulative AI techniques also supports the objectives of the Audiovisual Media...

Part of the Public Health Alcohol Act (PHAA – the Act) came into force on 10 January 2025, seven years after it was signed into law on 17 October 2018. In particular, section 19 of the Act introduces a watershed ban for alcohol advertisement. In this sense, alcohol advertisements cannot be shown on television between 3 a.m. and 9 p.m., nor can they be broadcast on the radio on a weekday between 3 p.m. and 10 a.m the following day. These new measures were among certain revisions introduced into the Act, and which followed the introduction of a ban on alcohol advertising in or on a...