American Think Tank Concerned by EU's Approach to 'Media Regulation'
by Jeff Johnson
October 27, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The European Union is considering regulations that would impose similar restrictions on Internet sites that include audiovisual content to those currently imposed on broadcasters in the EU.
The initiative, called "Modern Rules for TV and TV-Like Services" [PDF], includes goals such as "protection of minors" and "prohibition of incitement to hatred." Proposed as part of the "TV Without Frontiers" directive, this initiative would require that those entities providing audiovisual media services comply with "basic rules harmonised across Europe on the basis of the 'country of origin' principle." According to proponents of the initiative, most EU Member States already have rules protecting minors from harmful content and outlawing incitement to hatred -- only now they would have to be "harmonised EU-wide."
But Patrick Ross, senior fellow and vice president of communications at the Washington, DC-based Progress & Freedom Foundation, says the only way to achieve those objectives is through subjective content restrictions. Ross contends the initiative would present a danger when applied -- that is, who decides what content is reasonable and what is not. "We have a First Amendment in this country, and I think we want to continue to adhere to that," he says.
Ross believes U.S.-based ministries and advocacy groups that express their opposition to abortion or homosexuality, for example, could find themselves at odds with European regulations. "It certainly could affect any group that has a position that somebody else might take offense at," the Foundation spokesman says.
"People should be free to speak their minds and to disagree," he continues, "and that's how we have political discourse. And if we start legislating on the basis of somebody's offense, that could be quite chilling to speech."
The EU proposal includes stricter regulations for more traditional broadcasts that are scheduled by programmers than for new media -- such as video-on-demand and podcasts -- that are downloaded by individual users. Ross warns that such distinctions are meaningless in an environment were technology advances as quickly as it has on the Internet. In a recent commentary [PDF], the Progress & Freedom Foundation official has offered some "do's and don't's" for policymakers when it comes to global media regulation.
Jeff Johnson, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
