The Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) is a piece of EU legislation that aims to regulate all audiovisual media services across EU Member States.
The AVMS Directive came into force in 2010 and was revised in 2018 in light of changing market realities, particularly the explosion of online video services. The amendments were intended to level the playing field between traditional broadcasting models and modern ones. The Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 (OSMRA) transposed the revised AVMSD into Irish law.
The main obligations of the AVMSD concern:
- Transparency and information obligations
- Accessibility for people with a visual or hearing disability
- Prominence of general interest content
- Signal integrity
- Protection of human dignity (prohibition on hate speech and terrorist propaganda)
- Protection of minors, and
- Promotion of the distribution and production of European and independent works
Who does the AVMSD apply to?
The AVMSD applies to traditional TV broadcasters, video on-demand providers like Netflix and Amazon Prime and, following the 2018 revision, video sharing platform services (VSPS) like YouTube and TikTok which allow users to upload user-generated videos. Different sets of rules apply depending on which category a service falls within. The AVMSD also applies to audiovisual commercial communications carried by these media, which are images designed to promote goods or services.
Supervision and enforcement
The Country of Origin principle is the cornerstone of the AVMSD. Under this principle, only the home Member State is entitled to regulate a service provider and all other Member States (receiving states) are prohibited from exercising a secondary regulatory function, save in exceptional circumstances. This rule is intended to provide legal certainty for service providers and facilitate the development of cross-border business models.
Ireland’s Media Commission, Coimisiún na Meán, is the regulatory body that oversees the implementation, supervision and enforcement of the AVMSD. The Commission has the power to issue binding codes to ensure compliance with the AVMSD and is developing codes for the various categories of service providers falling within the scope of the AVMSD. It is expected to finalise an Online Safety Code for VSPS in Q3 2024.
The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.