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In December 2003, the Secretary of State asked the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) to consider proposals to strengthen the rules on food and drink advertising to children. After extensive research and consultation, Ofcom has now reached a controversial decision to ban all advertisements for products that are high in fat, salt and sugar in and around all programmes of particular appeal to children under the age of 16, broadcast at any time of day or night on any channel. This will include a total ban on such advertising in and around all children’s programmes and on dedicated children’s channels...

Although sponsorship of programmes has been allowed in the United Kingdom for fifteen years, sponsorship of channels has so far not been permitted. The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has announced that, after extensive consultation, it has decided to amend its Broadcasting Code to permit the sponsorship of commercial television channels and radio stations. Important safeguards are retained to preserve editorial integrity and to protect children. Originally Ofcom had proposed that channels which contained programmes which could not be sponsored (news and current affairs) could not themselves be...

On 15 September the District Court of Hannover imposed a fine of EUR 10,000 on an Internet page provider. A photographer from Hannover had shown photos of minors striking unnatural and sexually suggestive poses on pages that he managed, some to which access was free and others which required payment. The Media Institute for Lower Saxony (NLM) had, on account of the violation of the Youth Media Protection State Agreement, imposed fines in November 2005 and June 2006 in this case, which the party concerned subsequently challenged in court. The District Court has now confirmed the legal view of the...

The Hamburg Institute for New Media (HAM) has objected to some jingle-based advertisements shown on the MTV 2 Pop programme. By broadcasting twelve jingle-based adverts on this programme between 6 am and 8 pm MTV Networks violated Youth Protection provisions. What is objectionable, according to the decision of the HAM, is that the broadcast adverts encouraged children and young people to make a purchase, such encouragement exploiting their lack of experience and gullibility. In accordance with § 6 paragraph 2 of the Youth Media Protection State Agreement (JMStV), advertising may not contain any...

The lives of children and young people are changing. Demographic trends, varying family structures, flexible working conditions and so on are evidence that modern European childhood is shifting. Considering the number of hours that an average child spends in front of various screens is far higher than the time they spend in front of their educators or their parents, children and young people are clearly moving away from the consumption of traditional forms of media towards more creative and personal (peer-to-peer) forms of communication to express and inform themselves. In this context, and in...