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On 8 January 2024, the Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media, CvdM) issued a significant decision, imposing a fine on ESPN , a sports broadcaster, for numerous violations of the rules governing gambling advertising. This action follows the new legislation on gambling advertising coming into force in 2023 (see IRIS 2023-7/20) and previously in 2021 (see IRIS 2022-2/15). The CvdM stated that it attached “great importance” to compliance with these regulations, as they are designed to “protect minors”. Seeing advertising for gambling can lead to a “positive...

On 18 January 2024, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt) (ACM) published important draft Guidelines on the EU’s landmark Digital Services Act (DSA) (see, for example, IRIS 2023-3/18 and IRIS 2023-5/2). Notably, this follows the ACM being designated as the national Digital Services Coordinator in the Netherlands under the DSA under recent Dutch legislation (IRIS 2023-8/16). The draft Guidelines have been developed by the ACM to ensure that “market participants falling under the DSA are adequately prepared” for...

In November 2023 the Government approved a national plan to promote media literacy in various sectors of society. Although there is a natural focus on pre-university schools, the document also established guidelines that include informal and lifelong education. The purpose is to enable citizens to better deal with informative content, and to fight misinformation and dissemination of false content. This is the first time a national plan has been launched in this field. Starting with the acknowledgement that there is a deficit in Portugal regarding access to and reading the news, the legislative...

On 10th January 2024, the Italian Communication Authority (AGCOM) issued, by resolution no. 7/24/CONS, some long-awaited guidelines to urge compliance with the Audiovisual Media Services Code (‘TUSMA’, Legislative Decree no. 208/2021) by influencers (‘Guidelines’). The resolution also established a technical group of experts. The release of the Guidelines follows the increase in the online dissemination of content by various subjects having control over the creation, fabrication or organisation of the same, commonly known as ‘influencers’. According to...

In the face of social concern about the increasing uncontrolled access of children and young people to adult content, Spain is making legal and practical progress in the protection of minors on the Internet. Firstly, it was the Spanish Data Protection Agency (Agencia Española de Protección de Datos – AEPD) that introduced an age verification system in December 2023 to ensure that any person accessing adult content is authorised to do so. This is in line with the General Law on Audiovisual Communication (Spanish Law 13/2022), which obliges video-sharing platforms to set...