Research commissioned by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has found nearly nine in 10 (88 per cent) people agree there is a potential child protection risk if anime content is not age-rated appropriately and consistently, with parents who are unfamiliar with anime frequently assuming it is inherently “child-friendly”. The mixed-methods study combined ten […]
The race to bring satellite calls and texts to ordinary smartphones has begun, after UK comms regulator Ofcom announced its final decisions about how the technology can be rolled out. Mobile operators are now joining with satellite companies to deliver ‘direct-to-device services’ to everyday smartphones up and down the UK. This involves satellites hundreds of […]
Ofcom has imposed a financial penalty of £375,000 on religious channel, The Word Network, for breaching broadcasting rules on multiple occasions. Having received viewer complaints – and in one case following routine monitoring – the media regulator launched investigations into the following programmes: Stem Cell Activators, broadcast on July 24th 2023; Various episodes of Peter […]
Public service media organisations from across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have sent a joint open letter to the Lithuanian Seimas, expressing serious concern about recent legislative initiatives that they believe could undermine the independence and stable financing of Lithuania’s public broadcaster, LRT (Lithuanian National Radio and Television). The letter — addressed to the Speaker […]
Italy’s Reti Televisive Italiane (RTI) and Medusa Film, both part of the Mediaset Group, have launched legal action against US-based generative AI company Perplexity AI. This lawsuit, filed with the Civil Court of Rome, marks the first legal challenge in Italy specifically targeting copyright infringement related to the unauthorised use of content for training AI […]
Italian media associations have issued an urgent appeal to the government and parliament, warning that the unchecked power of global tech giants is jeopardising their crucial role as guarantors of information and pluralism. In a joint statement, the associations – bringing together print media and broadcasters (AIE, FIEG and CRTV) – collectively decried the “profoundly […]
Ofcom has fined Virgin Media £23.8 million (€27.1m), after it disconnected telecare customers during its programme to migrate customers to digital landlines. Virgin Media notified Ofcom about a number of incidents related to the migration of telecare customers in November and December 2023. As a result, the media regulator launched an investigation to establish whether […]
Ofcom has published its annual report on the BBC, assessing the corporation’s performance in meeting the needs of viewers and listeners during the period April 2024 to March 2025. The report also includes the findings of Ofcom’s second ‘Periodic Review’ of the BBC. Drawing on extensive audience research, industry data and stakeholder information, the report […]
Australia’s federal parliament has passed legislation that will enforce content quotas for major SVoD platforms such as Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video. The national government announced it would roll out such quotas earlier this November, which require streaming services with over 1 million domestic subscribers to spend 10 per cent of their total Australian expenditure […]
Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) has carried out the eighth phase of Operação 404 (Operation 404), an action aimed at combating crimes against intellectual property on the Internet. This is the largest international mobilisation in the country, with the participation of Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and the UK. Mexico and the US […]