B 3379
L.N. 482 of 2020
BROADCASTING ACT
(CAP. 350)
Amendment to the Requirements  as to Standards and Practice 
applicable to the Famil y Viewing and Listening, 2020
IN EXERCISE and powers conferred by article 20(3) of the
Broadcasting Act, the Broadcasti ng Authority has made the following
requirements:
Title. 
S.L. 350.18.1. The title of these requireme nts is the Amendment to the
Requirements as to Standards and Practice applicable to the Fam ily
Viewing and Listening, 2020 and these requirements shall be rea d and
construed as one with the Requirements as to Standards and Prac tice
applicable to the Family Viewing and Listening, hereinafter ref erred to
as "the principal requirements".
Substitutes 
article 1.3 of the principal 
requirements.2. Article 1.3 of the principal requirements shall be
substituted by the following:
"1.3 The policy assumes a progressive decline throughout
the evening in the proportion of children present in the audien ce.
It expects a similar progression in the successive programmes
scheduled from early evening until closedown: the earlier in th e
evening, the more suitable; the later in the evening, the less
suitable. Within the progressi on, 9:30 p.m. is fixed as the point
up to which the audiovisual media service provider will normall y
regard themselves as responsible  for ensuring that nothing is
shown that is unsuitabl e for children. But it is assumed that from
9:30 p.m. onwards, parents or guardians may reasonably be
expected to share responsibility for what their children are
permitted to see and listen to. Violence is not the only reason
why a programme may be unsuitable for family viewing or
listening. Other factors include bad language, innuendo,
blasphemy, explicit scenes or descriptions of sexual behaviour,
and scenes or portrayal  of extreme distress.".
Amends article 
3.1 of the principal 
requirements.3. Article 3.1 of the principal r equirements shall be amended
as follows:
(a) paragraph (v) thereof sh all be substituted by the
following:
"v. adult related programmes are to be broadcast only
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after 9:30 p.m. Within the progression of successive
programmes scheduled from early evening until
closedown: 
i. 9:30 p.m. is fixed as the point up to which
the broadcasters will norma lly regard themselves as
responsible for ensuring that no audiovisual media isbroadcast that is unsuitable for children; 
ii. after 9:30 p.m. audi ovisual media services
designed for adults  may be broadcast;";
(b) paragraph (vi) thereof shall be substituted by the
following:
"vi. in audiovisual media ser vices the classification
signal and the signal of poten tial harmful content must be
superimposed on the audiovisu al media service, where they
are visible during the first 60 seconds and should the
programme be interrupted, during the first 30 seconds
following commencement of broadcasts of the saidprogramme after each break. In the case of a radio
programme, the broadcaster has to air a notice before the
beginning of the programme that the latter is addressed to amature audience and should the programme be interrupted,
before the following commencement of broadcasts of the
said programme after each break;
"; 
(c) paragraph (viii) thereof shall be substituted by the
following:
"viii. in so far as audiovisual media services are
concerned, service media providers should adopt the
following classif ication signage:
U for audiovisual media service s  s u i t a b l e  f o r  p e r s o n s  o f
all ages.
The letter "U" should be encircled in a green colour.
PG for audiovisual media services which require parental
guidance as they may not be suitable for young
children.
The letters "PG" should be encircled in a yellow
colour.
12Afor audiovisual media servi ces suitable only for persons
of twelve years and over but younger people may onlysee them if they are accompanied by an adult.
The number "12A" should be encircled in an orange
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colour.
12 for audiovisual media services suitable only for persons
of twelve years. 
The number "12" should be encircled in an orange
colour.
15 for audiovisual media services suitable only for persons
of fifteen years.
The number "15" should be encircled in a brown
colour.
18 for audiovisual media services suitable only for persons
of eighteen years. 
The number "18" should be encircled in a brown
colour.
(d) immediately after paragraph (viii) thereof, as
substituted, there shall be added the following new paragraphs:
"ix. in the classificati on process of audiovisual
media services in the manner  prescribed in the preceding
paragraph, service media prov iders shall also decide which
signal or signals of potential harmful content will be
broadcast with the classification in accordance with the
procedure listed in paragraph (vi) of article 3.1. The signal
or signals of the potentially ha rmful content shall reflect
that reason or reasons that have led the service mediaprovider to that particular classification and this by
determining whether the audiovisual media service hascontent that includes violence, fear, sex, discrimination,
alcohol and / or drug abuse or inappropriate language. 
x. Audiovisual media service providers shall use
the following potentially h armful content signalling
system:
VIOLENCE
FEAR
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Adds new 
articles 5 and 6 to the principal 
requirements.4. Immediately after article 4 of  the principal requirements,
there shall be added the following new articles:
Cap. 350."5. A breach of any of the provisions of these
requirements shall constitute  an administrative offence
punishable by the Broadcasting Authority in terms of Article 41
and the Fifth Schedule of  the Broadcasting Act". 
Cap. 350.6.The wording "audiovisual media service" and "media
service provider" shall have the  same meaning as that provided
in the Broadcasting Act.". SEX
DISCRIMINATION
ALCOHOL ABUSE AND / OR DRUGS 
INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE".
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Ippubblikat mid-Dipartiment tal-Informazzjoni (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta — Published by the Department of Information (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta
Mitbugħ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern fuq karta riċiklata — Printed at the Government Printing Press on recycled paper
Prezz/Price
€0.36
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