Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Recommendation concerning the protection of minors and human dignity in audiovisual and information services'
Date: 1998-04-29
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: audiovisual industry, child protection, consumer protection, fundamental rights, information network

10.7.98

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 214/25

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Recommen-
dation concerning the protection of minors and human dignity in audiovisual and information
services’

(98/C 214/07)

On 16 December 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 130 (paragraph 3) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the
above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 1 April 1998. The rapporteur
was Dame Jocelyn Barrow.

At its 354th plenary session (meeting of 29 April 1998) the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 114 votes to one with two abstentions.

1.

Introduction

The Green Paper on the Protection of Minors and Human
Dignity in audio-visual and information services (1) was
a response to requests from the European Parliament
and European Council for an in-depth examination of
European public policy issues relating to the develop-
ment of audio-visual and information services (referred
to in this paper as the ‘new services’). The Green Paper
examined the issues facing the new services in ensuring
the adequate protection of minors and human dignity
as those services rapidly evolve from traditional closed
systems broadcasting to the open system on-line services
and the hybrid systems such as web-casting. The Green
Paper highlighted the fact that the very nature of the
new services is raising issues which are often not just
national or even European but global. The Green Paper
analysed the situation as a whole and looked at the role
of all players in the new services, from governments and
service providers to the individual user, whilst paying
particular attention to initiatives at a European level. It
described the evolution of the new services and analysed
the existing legislation, regulation and policy at national,
European and international level. It also looked at the
various medium to long-term options available in
addressing the issues raised by the new services, from
regulation and self-regulation of
the new services
through to awareness and education, and the develop-
ment and implementation of devices such as filtering
and rating systems.

1.1.
The consultation process which followed the
publication of the Green Paper highlighted a number of
important issues regarding the protection of minors and
human dignity in the new services.

The overriding message from the consultation
1.2.
process is that if the new services are to develop to their
full potential it is imperative to create a climate of trust;
such a climate will only exist if the protection of minors
and human dignity can be secured.

2. The Commission’s proposal for a Council Rec-

ommendation

The proposed Council Recommendation sug-

2.1.
gests that Member States:

encourage relevant parties’

2.1.1.
in
national measures for the protection of minors and
human dignity and contribute to the establishment of a
European assessment method;

involvement

2.1.2.
promote the establishment of a national frame-
work of self-regulation by operators of the new services.
Self-regulation should be based on:

— full participation of all relevant parties;

— code(s) of conduct covering protection of minors,
protection of human dignity and procedures in the
event of violation of these codes;

— cooperation of national bodies at a European level;

— evaluation of self-regulation frameworks;

2.1.3.
supplement existing regulatory frameworks by
encouraging broadcasters/operators to use new methods
for protecting minors (e.g. V-chips and PINs (2);

2.1.4.
implement measures to identify, prosecute and
punish offenders and develop cooperation between the
police and the judiciary;

(1) COM(96) 483 final.

(2) PIN = personal identification number.

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2.1.5.
promote measures to enable minors to use the
new services responsibly and improve awareness and
introduce quality content for minors.

2.2.

The Council calls on relevant parties to:

— set up structures representing all relevant parties at
a national
in order to participate in the
cooperation and coordination at a European and
international level;

level

— follow up code(s) of conduct;

— develop new means of protecting minors and

informing users;

— develop positive measures for minors;

— evaluate and follow-up on initiatives taken at

national level.

2.3.

The Council calls on the Commission to:

— network relevant national parties which are respon-
sible for the self-regulation framework sharing
experiences and information at a European level;

— encourage cooperation between police and judiciary

at European level;

3.1.2.
Illegal content can be identified easily and dealt
with under existing laws and regulations. However, the
question of how to define harmful content is one which
must be considered further. Any system for protecting
minors needs to ensure that minors do not have access
to content which could be harmful to their physical or
mental development, whilst at the same time allowing
adults access to such content.

3.1.3.
The definition of illegal content and harmful
content may vary from country to country; while certain
content may be illegal in certain countries, the same
content may be legal in other countries. This means
there may be practical difficulties in enforcing regu-
lations from country to country.
the
definition of harmful content is influenced by what may
offend certain values and beliefs and often depends on
cultural differences.

In addition,

It

is becoming increasingly apparent

3.1.4.
that
because of the lack of protection for minors from illegal
and harmful content, parents are reluctant to allow their
children access to the new services. One practical
solution to deal with this issue would be to ensure that
the quality of content available on the new services is
subject to certain minimum standards and that content
specifically aimed at minors is subject to more stringent
regulations than that applicable to other content.

— promote international cooperation;

3.2. Regulatory principles

— develop procedures for evaluating measures taken

to protect minors.

3. Specific comments

3.1.
The Economic and Social Committee recognizes
that the development of the new services is essential for
Europe in a number of significant areas. The Committee
believes that any policy for the development of the new
services should be underpinned by the protection of
certain basic principles including the protection of
minors and human dignity. Indeed, the Committee
believes that these new services can only achieve their
full potential in a climate of trust, and that such a
climate can only be achieved by securing the protection
of minors and human dignity.

3.1.1.
To this end, access to and classification of
content on the new services is crucial. It is essential to
differentiate between content which is illegal and content
which is harmful, as they pose different issues of
principle and therefore different legal and technological
approaches must be taken.

3.2.1.
Any form of regulation, whether formal
regulation or self-regulation, should be sensitive, pro-
portionate and non-discriminatory. Over-regulation will
stifle the growth of the new services and the benefits
which could be obtained on a national, European and
international level.

Self-regulation will encourage the development
3.2.2.
of the new services by providing a flexible means of
adapting to the increasing globalization and rapid
development of the new services.

3.2.3. Maximum use of existing regulations, policies
and procedures should be made in those cases where
they can be adopted seamlessly for the new services.

3.2.4.
Procedures should be implemented to ensure
regular evaluation of self-regulatory policies and pro-
cedures at a national, European and international level.

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3.2.5.
Regulation should be ‘technology-neutral’: as
few as possible new regulations, policies and procedures
should be specific to the new services.

Self-regulation of

3.3.6.
and parental
responsibility should be the primary methods of control
over access to content.

content

3.2.6.
Alternatives to regulation, such as education,
awareness-raising initiatives and labelling, should be
encouraged.

3.3.7. Quality of content is to be ensured by estab-
lishing minimum standards, which in turn should be
enforced by the regulatory bodies.

3.2.7.
Licensing of ISPs (Internet Service Providers)
and organizational content providers would allow regu-
lators to attach conditions and sanctions to licences
which could then be invoked if illegal or harmful content
was made available to minors.

3.3.8.
As has been mentioned earlier, a distinction
must be drawn between illegal and harmful content, as
these two types of content require different approaches.
Globally accepted minimum criteria should be adopted;
individual states should then be able to adopt more
stringent criteria, if desired.

Regulation must impinge as little as possible
3.2.8.
on fundamental principles of privacy and freedom of
expression.

3.4. Organizations

3.2.9.
violation of regulations and codes of conduct.

Specific penalties should be introduced for

3.2.10.
Regulatory bodies and other relevant bodies
whose remit is the new services should be well publicized
at a national, European and international level.

European presence in global new services
3.4.1.
Associations is disproportionately lower than that of
North America. These Associations play a pivotal role
in addressing new services, issues, policies, processes and
procedures. Active European presence is fundamental to
ensure a sound, stable and sustainable international
forum.

3.3. Content liability

3.3.1.
Content providers should be prima facie
responsible for content. Service providers should not be
responsible for content.

A kind of ‘Euro PICS’ (1) should be developed
3.3.2.
and adopted as a Europe-wide standard tool for the
development of a rating system and software for filtering
content. ‘Euro PICS’ should then be integrated into
PICS. Until such time as ‘Euro PICS’ is developed, PICS
should be adopted as the global standard, as this will
provide control over access to content.

3.3.3.
There should be further research into the
development of a limited number of globally accepted
rating systems and filtering software which would
address the global content issues together with the use
of warning pages, visual and sound signals for ‘harmful’
content.

3.4.2.
There is a greater need for participation by
European industry in global associations in order to
retain awareness of the issues affecting the new services,
ensure development on an internationally equitable
basis and provide a vehicle to address specific European
requirements (e.g. cultural and linguistic differences).

3.4.3.
It would be useful for European interests if
there was a co-ordinated approach at an international
level to the issues surrounding the new services. There
should also be European bodies to co-ordinate any
approach on a European level.

3.5. Education

3.5.1.
As the future opportunities and career pros-
pects of today’s minors will be heavily influenced by the
new services, it is crucial for minors to be able to
integrate the use of the new services into their education
process.

The Commission and established international
3.3.4.
organizations should co-ordinate relevant parties to
discuss content issues, rating systems and filtering
software.

3.5.2.
Education in respect of content and the
acceptability of content should be encouraged for adults
and educators.

3.3.5.
encouraged as an additional option.

Third-party labelling of content should be

(1) PICS = Platform for Internet Content Selection.

3.5.3.
Regional and national training centres and
educational institutions should be established to develop
training in this context for parents and educators.
Educational policies concerning the new services should
encourage the interconnection of national and regional
schools’ networks.

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3.5.4. New educational learning strategies and teach-
ing methods specifically aimed at the new services should
be introduced.

3.7.3.
Basic code(s) of conduct should be drawn up
both at a European and international level, to be adopted
and implemented by users, content providers, service
providers and regulatory bodies.

3.5.5.
There should be increased public sector assis-
tance of the education community in the implementation
of these new educational strategies. Measures should be
introduced to allow parents to take advantage of
education strategies and thereby help their children.

3.5.6.
Educational research, policies and strategies
should be European, even international in approach, to
ensure full inter-operability and open standards insofar
as they relate to the new services in education.

3.5.7.
Reference should be made to the US four-point
plan to clean-up the Internet (a parental guide to the
Internet, a public awareness campaign, a zero tolerance
policy for certain offenders and ‘hot-lines’) and the
German model, where recent legislation provides for
the appointment of ‘youth protection’ officers (see
Appendix I).

3.5.8.
Procedures should be developed for the dissemi-
nation of ‘good practice’ on the use of the new services
at a European level.

3.6. Grants

3.6.1.
There should be a European-wide initiative
to provide grants to encourage the development of
education and awareness both on a national and
European level.

3.7. Cooperation and coordination

As the new services are global

in nature,
3.7.1.
any approach requires not only a common European
approach (so that European issues can be presented in a
coherent way) but also an international approach. This
will require cooperation and coordination at both
a European and international level. The acceptance,
effectiveness and therefore success of any new service
will be underpinned by the cooperation and coordination
of all parties.

3.7.2.
Cooperation and coordination at a European
and international level must be facilitated by the net-
working of relevant national bodies responsible for the
new services on all levels e.g. government, self-regulatory
bodies, consumer groups.

3.7.4.
European presence in global new services
Associations is disproportionately lower than that of
North America. These Associations play a pivotal role
in addressing new services. It is essential for there to be
a greater European participation in these international
organizations so that Europe can participate on an
internationally equitable basis and cater for specific
European issues.

4. Conclusions

4.1.
The Committee believes that the new services
offer significant benefits on a national, European and
international level but that the appropriate regulatory
framework, policies and procedures need to be
implemented if those benefits are to be realized fully.
The Committee further believes that the Commission’s
proposal for a Council Recommendation — when
coupled with its general principles, its proposals on
the co-ordination of national responses and on the
cooperation and pooling of experience at a European
and international
level — provides an appropriate
regulatory framework.

In conclusion the Committee:

4.1.1.
solutions to the issues facing the new services;

seeks an international approach to finding

4.1.2.

seeks a harmonized approach to regulation;

4.1.3.
filtering software;

encourages the use of rating systems and

4.1.4.
raising initiatives;

recommends

educational

and awareness-

4.1.5.

encourages self-regulation where appropriate;

4.1.6.
seeks clarification on responsibility for content
and the distinction between illegal and harmful content;

4.1.7.
seeks increased cooperation and coordination
between national, European and international organ-
izations on all aspects of the new services;

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4.1.8.
proposes the establishment of a European (or
even internationally accepted) framework of codes of
conduct, guidelines and grass-roots measures such as
‘hot-lines’ and youth protection officers;

4.1.9.
proposes that all measures, policies and initia-
tives introduced in relation to the new services ensure
the use of the new services is encouraged, so that the
number of users will increase.

Brussels, 29 April 1998.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Decision
adopting a Multiannual Community Action Plan on promoting safe use of the Internet’ (1)

(98/C 214/08)

On 26 January 1998 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 130(3) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
proposal.

The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 1 April 1998. The rapporteur
was Mrs Drijfhout-Zweijtzer.

At its 354th plenary session of 29 and 30 April 1998 (meeting of 29 April 1998) the Economic
and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 116 votes to one with three
abstentions.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
The Commission acknowledges the great power
of the Internet in economic, social, educational and
cultural terms, but suggests that criminal organizations
might seek to exploit it and that it carries a limited
amount of illegal or harmful content.

1.1.1.
Illegal content immediately brings child por-
nography to mind. But it includes more than this and is
connected with a variety of issues:

— national security (instructions for making bombs
or for the illegal manufacture of drugs, terrorist
activities);

— protection of minors (illegal advertising, violence,

pornography);

— protection of human dignity (incitement to racial

hatred or discrimination);

(1) OJ C 48, 13.2.1998, p. 8.

— economic security (fraud, instructions for the illegal

copying of credit cards);

— security of information (malicious hacking);

— protection of privacy (unauthorized disclosure of

personal data, ‘spam’);

— protection of reputation (slander, illegal comparative

advertising);

— intellectual property (unauthorized dissemination of
works protected by copyright, e.g. software or
music).

1.1.2. Harmful
information covers both content
which is legal but the distribution of which is restricted
(adults only, for example), and content which could give
offence to certain users.

1.2.
The Commission rightly believes that, in addition
to an active policy for encouraging legitimate use of the
Internet, measures are also needed to curb abuses.