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On 31 December 2011 at 20:20h, the film “Ratatouille” was broadcast on VTM, a Flemish commercial broadcaster. This movie was interrupted three times for advertising breaks. Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (Flemish Media Regulator - VRM) received a complaint. According to the plaintiff, this movie could not be interrupted by advertising because it is a children’s programme (Article 80 (2) Mediadecreet (Flemish Broadcasting Act)). However, VRM judged that this Article was not violated. The general rule about the interruption of programmes by advertising is that broadcasters can choose when they interrupt...

On 4 April 2012, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers (CM) adopted Recommendation CM/Rec(2012)4 on the protection of human rights with regard to social networking services. The CM notes in the Recommendation that social networking services (SNSs) are important for the effective exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms because they can assist the wider public to receive and impart information. SNSs are of public service value because they offer possibilities for enhancing the potential for individuals’ participation in political, social and cultural life and facilitate democracy...

The Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului (National Council for Electronic Media - CNA) approved on 2 February 2012 Decision no. 72 on the conditions for granting and modifying a rebroadcasting notification. It was published in the Official Journal no. 118 of 16 February 2012 and replaced CNA Decision no. 12/2003 (see inter alia IRIS 2010-4/37, IRIS 2011-6/30 and IRIS 2012-2/32). According to the Decision, any person who intends to distribute TV and/or radio programme services has to request, under Art. 74 of the Audiovisual Law no. 504/2002, a rebroadcasting notification. The applicant has to...

On 9 February 2012, the Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz der Landesmedienanstalten (Land Media Authorities’ Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media - KJM) recognised two World Wide Web youth protection programs, subject to certain conditions. These are the first youth protection programs for internet services that the KJM has recognised in accordance with the criteria that it published in May 2011 (see IRIS 2011-7/17). Both programs therefore meet the requirement of user independence; they provide users with age-appropriate access to online services and can be switched on and off,...

In recent times the National Council of Radio and Television (NCRT) has been significantly more active in monitoring broadcasting content of television stations and taking relevant decisions. So, in February 2012, the NCRT banned the broadcasting of an advertising spot of a mobile company, deeming it as a spot “that promotes a behaviour that endangers the normal health and psychic development of children.” The mobile company appealed this decision before the Council of Complaints at the NCRT. Both the Council and the psychologists' reports said that the spot contained elements that might foster...