WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3071/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Protection of minors in audiovisual services
Date: 1997-10-02
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: audiovisual programme, child protection, classification, control of communications, freedom of self-determination, infancy, parental responsibility, quality label, right to justice, selective dissemination of information

C 134/70

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30. 4. 98

Given the global nature of the services provided by the new media, will the Commission ensure that all material
is subject to classification and labelling without exception (including illegal and harmful material), since content
considered illegal in one state may not be so in another?

Use of regional declarations or a similar system would help reduce the risk of material considered to be illegal in
a given country being received and used in that country.

(98/C 134/89)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3069/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 October 1997)

Subject: Protection of minors in audiovisual services

With reference to the Commission(cid:146)s Green Paper on the protection of minors and human dignity in audiovisual
and  information  services  (COM(96)  483  final),  will  the  Commission  attempt  to  strengthen  international
cooperation on the development, coordination and application of laws, regulations and penalties in this sector?

In order to tackle the question of harmful content, steps should be taken on the one hand to improve awareness on
the part of parents and educators and, on the other, to introduce technical control devices.

(98/C 134/90)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3070/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 October 1997)

Subject: Protection of minors in audiovisual services

The Commission has published a Green Paper on the protection of minors and human dignity in audiovisual and
information services (COM(96) 483 final).

As far as the protection of minors and human dignity is concerned, the legal and regulatory framework governing
illegal and harmful material provided by new media services, which is published and distributed through (cid:145)closed(cid:146)
systems such as VOD (video on demand), should include the principles currently governing laws and regulations
on existing media such as television, or should be largely based on them.

Will the Commission take steps to ensure that illegal and harmful content made available by new media services
and published and distributed via (cid:145)open(cid:146) systems such as the Internet is subject to specific laws, regulations and
penalties?

(98/C 134/91)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3071/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 October 1997)

Subject: Protection of minors in audiovisual services

With reference to the Commission(cid:146)s Green Paper on the protection of minors and human dignity in audiovisual
and information services (COM(96) 483 final), will the Commission examine a joint methodology for defining
the approach to be adopted at national, European and international level for drawing up a legal and regulatory
framework?

With  this  in  view,  it  would  be  useful  to  set  up  a  committee  or  group  of  experts  including  representatives  of
national  regulatory  bodies,  governments  and  interested  parties  in  order  to  carry  out  checks  and  improve
coordination and information at European level.