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Social Media: Stricter rules on protection of minors and for advertising

The European Parliament’s Culture and Education Committee has decided on new rules for audio and visual content, reports Petra Kammerevert, media policy spokeswoman for the Social Democratic delegation of European MPs. Social networks such as YouTube and Facebook must in the future meet the same protection and transparency rules for audiovisual content.

If videos are reported that call to violence, hatred or terrorism, action must be taken to redress them, according to Kammerevert. She reasons, “so that we can fight hate speech and racist remarks that are disseminated in videos, more strongly, more uniformly and across media.” Video platforms are also to be required to identify advertising, sponsorship and product placement.

The EU Commission already announced a revision of the rules for audiovisual media services back in 2016. The Culture Committee of the European Parliament and the EU want to negotiate the rules conclusively in early June.