On 6 November the EU Council adopted a new Directive (as yet
unnumbered) which will have the effect of ‘amending Directive 2010/13/EU on the
coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or
administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual
media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive) in view of changing
market realities’. The text of the new Directive can be found here.
As a result of the amendments, video sharing platforms will for
the first time be subject to rules ‘ensuring that viewers, and in particular
minors, will be better protected from violent or harmful content or hate speech’.
SCL members will be well aware of arguments suggesting that this is a slippery
slope.
The EU Council claims that the new rules aim to increase
cultural diversity and promote European content by introducing a quota of at
least 30% of European content in the catalogue of providers of on-demand
audiovisual media services.
The Council adopted the new directive on 6 November. The
directive will enter into force on the 20th day after its publication in the
Official Journal of the EU. Member states will have 21 months to transpose it
into national legislation. The usual Brexit warning applies as to its
application in the UK.
Articles giving a full breakdown of the implications of the new Directive would be very welcome.
