The Government approves the General Audiovisual Communication Bill

The Council of Ministers today approved the referral to the Congress of Deputies of the draft General Law of Audiovisual Communication to adapt the legislation to the reality of the market, in which new agents have emerged and where new audiovisual services have been developed driven by digital technologies.

This reform is included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which includes among its objectives the promotion of Spain as a European business, work and investment platform for the audiovisual field, through the “Spain Audiovisual Hub”, included in Component 25.

With this rule, the European regulations are transposed into the Spanish legal system and the legislation is modernized, since the current audiovisual law establishes obligations almost exclusively for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in open.

The text submitted to Parliament has undergone an intensive consultative process with the various public and private actors involved, including two public hearings.

One of the aims of the bill is to establish a balanced playing field for all audiovisual service providers competing in the market for a single audience. However, the European directive imposes a limit which is the country of origin principle, whereby audiovisual media service providers are subject only to the legal system and jurisdiction of the Member State in which they are established.

The rule includes general principles applicable to the entire audiovisual field, fruit of the values of democratic societies: human dignity; the protection of users with respect to content that violates the dignity of women; the obligation to transmit a respectful and appreciative image of people with disabilities; the promotion of linguistic pluralism existing in Spain; and the veracity of information. In addition, the Act promotes self-regulation and co-regulation in the audiovisual field.

The aim of the draft law is to increase the protection of minors, obliging all providers to provide information on content that may be harmful to minors through age rating systems.

In addition, reinforced protection schedules are established for linear television audiovisual communication services on open working days between 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. and between 17:00 and 20:00 a.m. Also Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays: between 7.30 a.m. and 12 noon.

The video exchange platforms, which for the first time are required to be registered in the state registry of providers of the audiovisual communication service, must also operate age verification systems and establish mechanisms to qualify the contents according to age. They should also include a functionality for users uploading videos to declare whether such videos contain advertising.

From a qualitative point of view, subliminal advertising, advertising of tobacco and e-cigarettes, as well as advertising that violates human dignity or uses the image of women in an offensive manner, are absolutely prohibited.

Advertising for alcoholic beverages is restricted to certain time slots: advertising for beverages above 20 degrees may only be broadcast between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. This limitation extends to on-demand radio and audio services and platform video sharing services. Alcohol advertising of less than 20º may be broadcast between 20:30-5:00 hours.

The advertising of esotericism and paraciences, gambling and betting is also restricted to the time slot from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., although some exceptions such as lottery games are established.

From a quantitative point of view, the limits of advertising in linear television services (open and paid) are relaxed in accordance with the provisions of the European directive. Thus, it goes from a limit of 12 minutes per hour to a maximum limit of 144 minutes between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and to a maximum limit of 72 minutes between 6 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The draft law extends the accessibility of content for all citizens, extending the obligation to agents that were not covered until now: linear television audiovisual media service with conditional access; television audiovisual media service on request; and audio audiovisual media service on request.

Likewise, in order to guarantee the quality of the signed content, it is established that they must comply with the criteria of the Center for Linguistic Standardization of the Spanish Sign Language or of the equivalent bodies of the CCAA that have their own sign language.

As a novelty compared to the current regulations, a single point is created for complaints related to accessibility by users, which will be the CNMC.

The promotion of European audiovisual works is one of the priorities of the Community directive. On the one hand, providers of the linear television audiovisual communication service are obliged to reserve 51% of the broadcasting time for European audiovisual works. Of this percentage, 50% will be reserved for works in the official language of the State or in one of the official languages of the Autonomous Communities. From this sub-site, RTVE will reserve a minimum of 15% for audiovisual works in one of the official languages of the CCAA.

Además, el texto establece que aquellas Comunidades Autónomas que tengan lengua oficial podrán re