Audiovisual and information industries, competitiveness: protection of minors and human dignity and right of reply

The Commission presents a Staff Working Document accompanying the report on the application of Council Recommendation 98/560/ECconcerning the protection of minors and human dignity and of Recommendation 2006/952/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of minors and human dignity and on the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and online information services industry.

The objective of the Recommendations was to make Member States and industry conscious of the new challenges for the protection of minors in electronic media, particularly those linked to the uptake and growing importance of online services. Considering  that regulation cannot always keep pace with these developments, Member States were called upon to promote and develop appropriate framework conditions by other than purely legal means, e. g. through stakeholder cooperation and co- or self regulation

In the meantime, changes in consumers' and particularly minors' use of media have been dramatic and are constantly accelerating. Media are increasingly being used by minors via mobile devices, including (online) video games, and there are more and more on-demand media services on the Internet. As a new phenomenon since the last Recommendation, social networking sites have gained huge importance, both for individual users and in societal terms.

In order to assess what has already been done and what further steps might be necessary, the staff working document analyses in detail the implementation and effectiveness of the measures specified in the 1998 and 2006 Recommendations in Member States, and also gives specific examples of measures taken.