New Report Tracks Illegal Content in Europe Country by Country

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Wed, 10/27/2021 - 11:07 -- Nick Dager

Video-sharing platforms such as YouTube have created an incredible online world of content: films, music and even how-to-do tutorials are now available on a massive scale at a single click. However, they can also be a potential source of harmful content for children and other sectors of society and contribute to the spread of illegal content inciting to violence and hatred. European media law has long contained provisions to try and limit potential damage to viewers on traditional media.

Video-sharing platforms such as YouTube have created an incredible online world of content: films, music and even how-to-do tutorials are now available on a massive scale at a single click. However, they can also be a potential source of harmful content for children and other sectors of society and contribute to the spread of illegal content inciting to violence and hatred. European media law has long contained provisions to try and limit potential damage to viewers on traditional media.In 2018 European audiovisual legislation was given a major overhaul in the shape of the new Audiovisual Media Services Directive, with the extension of its scope to video-sharing platforms, it's time to look at its new rules concerning new media. And as the deadline for transposition into national law was September 2020, it's useful to compare and contrast the different approaches currently in practice in the various European countries thanks to the European Audiovisual Observatory's new report, co-financed by the European Commission under the Creative Europe program.

This report maps the different approaches of EU27 countries plus the UK and Norway. It's the result of intensive collaboration with a network of national correspondents in each country, coordinated by the Strasbourg-based Observatory.

The first chapter presents the key findings of the report and is followed by a second chapter on the methodology applied by the study. The third chapter contains the comparative analysis of the national regulatory framework, the measures imposed on VSPs in order to protect us from harmful and illegal content, their application in practice and enforcement.

It also includes feedback from a number of stakeholders (Dailymotion, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch) on the measures they have put in place to comply with the new obligations. An overview of the most significant ongoing research and studies in the field is contained in chapter 4. The report is completed by 30 extensive country factsheets, each one mirroring the study of the comparative analysis.

This new report is part of a series of mapping reports which the European Audiovisual Observatory has written at the request of the European Commission. Like all of the Observatory's mapping reports, it offers a unique, comparative analysis of European national legislation on a country-by-country basis thanks to detailed country profile chapters. 

Download the new report here https://bit.ly/3jDGjxK