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On 18 July 2019, Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, announced the launch of a media literacy network and the creation of a media literacy advisory panel as part of its "Making Sense of Media" programme. As Ofcom points out, “in an online environment, where the possibility for direct content regulation diminishes, the need for a media-literate public increases.” The regulator’s "Making Sense of Media" programme aims to help adults and children in the UK acquire the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding to make use of traditional and new communication services. The programme builds...

Generally, under Section Four of the Broadcast Code of Advertising Practice, advertisements must not be harmful or offensive. Advertisements must take account of generally accepted standards in order to minimise the risk of causing harm or serious or widespread offence. The context in which an advertisement is likely to be broadcast must be taken into account in order to avoid unsuitable scheduling.  The newly-added rule states that “Advertisements must not include gender stereotypes that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence”. During August, the Advertising Standards Authority...

Ofcom has published two reports concerning public service broadcasters (PSBs) in fulfilment of its obligation under the Digital Economy Act 2017 to review the prominence of PSBs. The first report, entitled "Review of Prominence for Public Sector Broadcasting", explains the regulator's recommendations to government to ensure that PSBs remain easy for TV viewers to find and watch on connected services and devices. The second report, "The Future of Public Service Media", gives Ofcom’s view as to the future of public service media. In the first report, Ofcom proposes legislation to guarantee public...

RT has been fined GBP 200 000 by Ofcom following its previous decision (see Iris 2019-3/17) that the broadcaster had breached the regulator’s due impartiality Code of Conduct rules concerning seven programmes broadcast by the channel over a period of approximately seven weeks between 17 March 2018 and 4 May 2018, primarily concerning the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury on 4 March 2018. One of the seven programmes concerned coverage of the Syrian conflict and adopting a pro Russian stance without acquiring alternative or opposing opinions. The Ofcom licence for...

On 4 July 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a judgment on whether Lithuania’s media authority could impose an obligation on all broadcasters requiring that a UK-based channel could be broadcast in Lithuania only in pay-to-view packages, as it had found that one of its programmes “contained information that incited hatred”. The CJEU held that such a measure did not infringe Article 3(1) of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), which provides that member states “shall not restrict retransmissions” of broadcasts from another member state. The case concerned...