The rise of content and media intermediaries as digital gate-keepers raises major policy and regulation concerns. IIC members agree that consumer choice offers benefits. Does the trend towards non-bundled offers in pay TV threaten diversity, and what concerns remain for some types of content: national content in smaller markets, local reporting in larger markets? And, if regulation does create a level playing field between OTTs and telcos, will demand for local content naturally emerge and reward local players?
Germany’s regulator wants platforms on a level playing field Germany’s top telecoms regulator has set its sights on US technology groups such as Google and Facebook, insisting that providers of messaging and email services should be regulated just like ordinary telecoms companies, reports the Financial Times.
Privacy, safety, security and etiquette in an era of big data and disruptive technology.
Convergence opportunities and challenges in a connected TV environment.
Spooked by Netflix’s growing popularity among African viewers, the continent’s largest television operator wants the disruptor to be regulated, reports Quartz Africa. “This call for regulation is a common call from established monopolies who find their grip on a local market challenged by a tech disruptor, and MultiChoice is no different.
The Cambodian government will monitor all news and social networking sites with immediate effect, “to prevent the spread of information that can cause social chaos and threaten national security”, reports the Phnom Penh Post.
A system to alert Canadians to natural disasters and other public safety emergencies via their smartphones is another step closer to reality, reports the Financial Post.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has published a digital report on the future of broadcasting in Canada. The report proposes new tools and regulatory approaches to support the production and promotion of audio and video content made by and for Canadians.
The Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research (Nordicom) has published Public Service Media in the Networked Society, a collection of papers on the role of public sector media.
Market trends, dynamics, and policy implications.
Changing consumption patterns, evolving value chains and blurring of boundaries: new challenges for policy makers and industry.
Perspectives on convergence, disruption and opportunities for socio-economic benefit.
President of the Dutch Media Authority.
June 2015, Volume 43 Issue 02
As more people, especially the less well off, have only a smartphone to access
the internet, there are signs that a new type of digital divide could develop.
Ofcom’s Alison Preston describes new research carried out in the UK
July 2016, Volume 44 Issue 02
As the world absorbs the impact of Europe’s GDPR, SONIA LIVINGSTONE asks if data protection can work for children’s privacy – or if a wider view is needed for all ages of user
July 2018, Volume 46 Issue 2
Today’s media and communications world needs a fundamental set of principles to help policymakers determine public value. ROBERT PICARD and VICTOR PICKARD have just such a global set to hand.
July 2017, Volume 45 Issue 2
Online platforms are placing great pressure on safeguards to democracy, and legal remedies are on the stocks. As KRISZTINA ROZGONYI discusses, there is a pressing need for a new generation of media regulators to implement rules and build trust
April 2018, Volume 46 Issue 1
Trends in internet video services are becoming apparent, and regulatory and competition agencies need to respond, as Augusto preta reports.
June 2015, Volume 43 Issue 02
Jean-Pierre Blais reports from Canada on 'discoverability' and the paradox of finding good television content in an age of seeming abundance
April 2016, Volume 44 Issue 01
Illicit streaming devices have become the latest mainstream content piracy threat. CASBAA’s JOHN MEDEIROS says that policymakers need to act now
January 2018, Volume 45 Issue 4
Ian Hargreaves pieces together projects and evidence that are defining a crucial, technology driven sector of the economy.
January 2016, Volume 43 Issue 04
How is media policy and regulation developing in a world moving from broadcasting to audiovisual content on many platforms? Joan Barata presents the agenda.
October 2016, Volume 44 Issue 03
What is the status of international copyright reform in the digital age? TED SHAPIRO contrasts efforts at the World Intellectual Property Organisation with ongoing reform in the EU as part of the digital single market initiative.
April 2017, Volume 45 Issue 1
Once again, the competing discourses of freedom of expression and national security are in play, as Monroe Price discusses in the context of global media policy.
October 2016, Volume 44 Issue 03
How can children gain vital literacy skills in today's internet, mobile phone and video game era? Aviva Silver says it's about storytelling.
September 2015, Volume 43 Issue 03
Highlights of the review of Europe’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive are explored by Lorna Woods. Changes in how video-sharing platforms are judged could have major global implications for service providers.
July 2016, Volume 44 Issue 02
The US election has brought the debate about whether social media firms such as Facebook are really media players, not technology platforms, into sharp relief, as and discuss.
January 2017, Volume 44 Issue 4
Celine CRAIG, Deputy Chief Executive, Broadcasting Authority of Ireland – Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann
Newsletter Issue 38
President and General Counsel, Star TV group in India
September 2015, Volume 43 Issue 03
Rene Arnold and Anna Schneider explore the level playing field debate on OTT services from a consumer perspective.
October 2016, Volume 44 Issue 03
The pressure on terrestrial broadcasters to give spectrum to the mobile sector shows no sign of letting up. Roland Beutler, at Germany's Südwestrundfunk, a regional public broadcaster, puts his side of the debate.
September 2015, Volume 43 Issue 03
Can broadcasting make the step into an increasingly mobile world? Roland Beutler discusses technology and business models in the context of public service remits, mobile network operators and the new world of 5G.
October 2016, Volume 44 Issue 03
Protecting the online rights of children in the commercial sphere has become a pressing issue for policymakers, as UNICEF’s PATRICK GEARY explains.
April 2018, Volume 46 Issue 1
Spooked by Netflix’s growing popularity among African viewers, the continent’s largest television operator wants the disruptor to be regulated, reports Quartz Africa. “This call for regulation is a common call from established monopolies who find their grip on a local market challenged by a tech disruptor, and MultiChoice is no different.
Three major internet service providers in the UK have said they would back a regulator to oversee rules for web giants – but warned lawmakers not to forget smaller firms or the bigger picture, reports the Register.
A human rights campaigner has urged the Malaysian government to form a taskforce of officials and concerned citizens for discussions on changes to the Communications and Multimedia Act, reports Free Malaysia Today.
Germany’s Monopolies Commission in its latest biennial report says that digital change requires legal adjustments regarding price algorithms and the media sector.
Germany’s top telecoms regulator has set its sights on US technology groups such as Google and Facebook, insisting that providers of messaging and email services should be regulated just like ordinary telecoms companies, reports the Financial Times.
The chief executive of UK regulator Ofcom, Sharon White, has warned regulatory action may be on its way for social media sites that publish news, in a move that brings the platform or publisher debate to the fore.
Stuart Cunningham, Professor of Media and Communications, Queensland University of Technology
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has published a digital report on the future of broadcasting in Canada. The report proposes new tools and regulatory approaches to support the production and promotion of audio and video content made by and for Canadians.
Activists and journalists are concerned that a law passed by Egypt's parliament allows President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi's government to punish press outlets and social media users for publishing “false information”, notes Deutsche Welle.
The Cambodian government will monitor all news and social networking sites with immediate effect, “to prevent the spread of information that can cause social chaos and threaten national security”, reports the Phnom Penh Post.
Arcep, France’s regulator, has issued its “scoreboard and outlook” document for public consultation, which traditionally marks the start of a new round of market analysis,...
The US FCC is proposing to modernise children’s TV rules in a move that is needed now more than ever, according to an article in the Washington Examiner.
A European parliament committee has voted for legislation that internet pioneers fear will turn the web into “a tool for surveillance and control”, reports the Guardian.
An ”archive of ads with political content”, which Facebook made public in May, has become the latest contested piece of territory between platforms and publishers, writes Emily Bell in the Guardian.
An article by Anya Schiffrin in Policy Syndicate considers that for more than a decade, Ecuadorian journalists have increasingly felt the effects of repressive media and speech laws that were supposedly enacted in the "public interest”.
The UK House of Lords Communications Committee has invited contributions to an inquiry on the regulation of the internet, under which the Committee will explore how the regulation of the internet should be improved, and whether specific regulation is required or whether the existing law is adequate.
Working Party 29 (WP29), the group that unites European data protection authorities, has announced “its full support” for investigations by national privacy authorities into the collection and use of personal data by and through social media.
The Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research (Nordicom) has published Public Service Media in the Networked Society, a collection of papers on the role of public sector media.
The National Media Council (NMC), the federal authority tasked with supervising all media activities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has recently issued electronic media activity regulations, notes law firm Clyde&Co.
On 25 May the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force for the 28 member states, but the impact is already far wider as the regulation affects any organisation that keeps data on an EU citizen, which includes all the global internet giants.
A system to alert Canadians to natural disasters and other public safety emergencies via their smartphones is another step closer to reality, reports the Financial Post.
The European Commission’s high-level expert group on fake news and disinformation spread online has produced a report that suggests a definition of the phenomenon and makes a series of recommendations.
Sharon White, head of the UK’s converged regulator, Ofcom, has set out the challenges to public service broadcasters (PSBs) in a speech.
The Guardian reports a paper, published in the journal Science, in which MIT researchers describe an analysis of a vast amount of Twitter data: more than 125,000 stories, tweeted more than 4.5 million times in total, all categorised as being true or false by at least one of six independent fact-checking organisations.
The Italian competition authority (AGCM) has carried out a first enforcement initiative on influencer marketing, “one of the most innovative and powerful advertising tools”. The initiative aims to prevent the circulation through social networks of messages whose commercial intent is not clear.
Turkey will expand the powers of its radio and television watchdog to include overseeing online content providers, under a draft law submitted to parliament on which the main opposition party said amounted to digital censorship, reports Reuters.
The European Commission says social media companies need to do more to respond to the requests, made last March by the Commission and member states’ consumer authorities, to comply with EU consumer rules.
Australia’s largest media organisations fear that new foreign interference laws could see journalists thrown in jail.
UK regulator, Ofcom, has issued its “International communications market report 2017”, which includes a section on regulatory context.
Findings from the ACMA’s Communications report 2016-17 show that Australia’s demand for online content and services continues to grow unabatedly.
Australia’s government has directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to start an inquiry into digital platform providers such as Facebook and Google.
Bulgaria will focus its attention on speeding up negotiations on the European Communications Code when it takes over the 6 month rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers in January, notes EurActiv.
The European Parliament has rejected proposed legislation intended to prevent territory-by-territory licensing of programming across the European Union (EU), reports Informitv.
Fake news is a disease that European society needs to be “vaccinated” against, the EU’s digital commissioner Mariya Gabriel said as she opened a call for public comments on how the EU should respond to the spread of false information on internet platforms, reports Euractiv.
As expected, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has loosened media ownership regulations in the US after a 3-2 vote by its executive which, while an expected development under the Trump administration, has drawn a mixed reaction, notes Rapid TV News.
FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, wants Apple to turn on the FM radio that’s hidden inside iPhones, reports The Verge. In a statement, he asked that Apple “reconsider its position, given the devastation wrought by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.”
A review by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) evidence group, made up of researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Middlesex University and the University of Central Lancashire, has highlighted the major risks, opportunities and emerging trends for children online.
A trade association whose members include Google, Facebook and Twitter will pitch self-regulation instead of a proposed federal law requiring more disclosure for political advertising on their online platforms, reports Bloomberg.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to eliminate a longstanding rule covering radio and television stations, in a move that could ultimately reshape America's media landscape, reports the Washington Post.
Roberto Viola, European Commission
Mexico’s 2013 telecom reform has brought benefits, spurring competition that has increased access and brought down mobile internet costs from among the highest in advanced economies to among the lowest, according to the OECD Telecommunication and Broadcasting Review of Mexico 2017.
The Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP) report for 2017 evaluates access to and usage of affordable financial services by underserved people across 26 geographically, politically and economically diverse countries.
Augusto Preta - CEO, IT Media Consulting, Chairman, IIC Italian Chapter
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