Annexes to COM(2004)341 - Protection of minors and human dignity and the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry

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dossier COM(2004)341 - Protection of minors and human dignity and the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual ...
document COM(2004)341 EN
date December 20, 2006
ANNEX I

INDICATIVE GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION, AT NATIONAL LEVEL, OF MEASURES IN DOMESTIC LAW OR PRACTICE SO AS TO ENSURE THE RIGHT OF REPLY OR EQUIVALENT REMEDIES IN RELATION TO ON-LINE MEDIA

Objective: introducing measures in the domestic law or practice of the Member States in order to ensure the right of reply or equivalent remedies in relation to on-line media, with due regard for their domestic and constitutional provisions and without prejudice to the possibility of adjusting its exercise to the particularities of each type of medium.

The term ‘medium’ refers to any means of communication for dissemination to the public of edited information on-line such as newspapers, periodicals, radio, television and Internet-based news services.

Without prejudice to other provisions adopted by the Member States under civil, administrative or criminal law, any natural or legal person, regardless of nationality, whose legitimate interests, in particular, but not limited to, reputation and good name, have been affected by an assertion of facts in a publication or transmission should have the right of reply or equivalent remedies. Member States should ensure that the actual exercise of the right of reply or equivalent remedies is not hindered by the imposition of unreasonable terms or conditions.

The right of reply or equivalent remedies should exist in relation to on-line media under the jurisdiction of a Member State.

Member States should adopt the measures needed to establish the right of reply or equivalent remedies and should determine the procedure to be followed for the exercise thereof. In particular, they should ensure that a sufficient time span is allowed and that the procedures are such that the right of reply or equivalent remedies can be exercised appropriately by natural or legal persons resident or established in other Member States.

The right of reply can be ensured not only through legislation, but also through co-regulatory or self-regulatory measures.

The right of reply is a particularly appropriate remedy in the on-line environment because it allows for an instant response to contested information and it is technically easy to attach the replies from the persons affected. However, the reply should be within a reasonable time after the request has been substantiated and at a time and in a manner appropriate to the publication or transmission to which the request refers.

Provision should be made for procedures whereby disputes as to the exercise of the right of reply or the equivalent remedies could be subject to review by the courts or similar independent bodies.

An application for exercise of right of reply or the equivalent remedies may be rejected if the claimant does not have a legitimate interest in the publication of such a reply, or if the reply would involve a punishable act, would render the content provider liable to civil law proceedings or would transgress standards of public decency.

The right of reply is without prejudice to other remedies available to persons whose right to dignity, honour, reputation or privacy have been breached by the media.


ANNEX II

Examples of possible actions concerning media literacy:

(a)continuing education of teachers and trainers, in liaison with child protection associations, on using the Internet in the context of school education so as to maintain awareness of the possible risks of the Internet with particular regard to chatrooms and fora;

(b)introduction of specific Internet training aimed at children from a very early age, including sessions open to parents;

(c)an integrated educational approach forming part of school curricula and media literacy programmes, so as to provide information on using the Internet responsibly;

(d)organisation of national campaigns aimed at citizens, involving all communications media, to provide information on using the Internet responsibly;

(e)distribution of information packs on possible risks of the Internet (‘how to surf the Internet safely’, ‘how to filter unwanted messages’) and the setting up of hotlines to which reports or complaints concerning harmful or illegal content could be addressed;

(f)adequate measures to establish or improve the performance of telephone hotlines, so as to make it easier to lodge complaints and to make it possible to report harmful or illegal content.


ANNEX III

Examples of possible actions by the industries and the parties concerned for the benefit of minors:

(a)systematically providing users with an effective, updatable and easy-to-use filtering system when they subscribe to an access provider;

(b)offering access to services specifically intended for children which are equipped with automatic filtering systems operated by access providers and mobile telephone operators;

(c)introducing incentives to provide a regularly updated description of the sites available, making it easier to classify sites and assess their content;

(d)posting banners on search engines drawing attention to the availability both of information about responsible use of the Internet and of telephone hotlines.