A Step Forward in Audiovisual Commitment to Minors: the Alternative to Co-Regulation for Countries

Abstract

The digitalization of audiovisual communication demands a new working framework where the legislation has a limited function and self-regulation is presented as a system, which, for the moment, cannot cover the shortcomings of regulation. Basic objectives such as the protection of minors require new formulas which can deal with this new situation. Thus, the recently passed ‘Audiovisual Media Services Directive’ in the European Union, which brings together the current European contributions and studies, supports the introduction of new mechanisms such as the coregulation, the establishment of which in countries like the Netherlands calls for in-depth analysis of this new legislative technique.