Data & Privacy
- Data Act
- Data Governance Act
- ePrivacy Directive
- GDPR
AI & Trust
- Artificial Intelligence Act
Cybersecurity
- Cybersecurity Act
- DORA
- NIS2
Digital Services & Media
- Digital Markets Act
- Digital Services Act
- European Media Freedom Act
European Media Freedom Act
- Recitals
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONSArticles 1 — 2
CHAPTER II
RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MEDIA SERVICE PROVIDERS AND RECIPIENTS OF MEDIA SERVICESArticles 3 — 6
CHAPTER III
FRAMEWORK FOR REGULATORY COOPERATION AND A WELL-FUNCTIONING INTERNAL MARKET FOR MEDIA SERVICESArticles 7 — 25
CHAPTER IV
FINAL PROVISIONSArticles 26 — 29
EMFA Article 2. Definitions
- For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
- (1)‘media service’ means a service as defined by Articles 56 and 57 TFEU, where the principal purpose of the service or a dissociable section thereof consists in providing programmes or press publications, under the editorial responsibility of a media service provider, to the general public, by any means, in order to inform, entertain or educate;
- (2)‘media service provider’ means a natural or legal person whose professional activity is to provide a media service and who has editorial responsibility for the choice of the content of the media service and determines the manner in which it is organised;
- (3)‘public service media provider’ means a media service provider which is entrusted with a public service remit under national law and receives national public funding for the fulfilment of such a remit;
- (4)‘programme’ means a set of moving images or sounds constituting an individual item, irrespective of its length, within a schedule or a catalogue established by a media service provider;
- (5)‘press publication’ means press publication as defined in Article 2, point (4), of Directive (EU) 2019/790;
- (6)‘audiovisual media service’ means audiovisual media service as defined in Article 1(1), point (a), of Directive 2010/13/EU;
- (7)‘editorial decision’ means a decision which is taken on a regular basis for the purpose of exercising editorial responsibility and linked to the day-to-day operation of a media service provider;
- (8)‘editorial responsibility’ means the exercise of effective control both over the selection of programmes or press publications and over their organisation, for the purposes of the provision of a media service, regardless of the existence of liability under national law for the service provided;
- (9)‘online platform’ means online platform as defined in Article 3, point (i), of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065;
- (10)‘provider of a very large online platform’ means a provider of an online platform that has been designated as a very large online platform pursuant to Article 33(4) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065;
- (11)‘video-sharing platform service’ means video-sharing platform service as defined in Article 1(1), point (aa), of Directive 2010/13/EU;
- (12)‘video-sharing platform provider’ means video-sharing platform provider as defined in Article 1(1), point (da), of Directive 2010/13/EU;
- (13)‘national regulatory authority or body’ means any authority or body designated by a Member State pursuant to Article 30 of Directive 2010/13/EU;
- (14)‘user interface’ means a service which controls or manages access to and the use of media services providing programmes and which enables users to select media services or content;
- (15)‘media market concentration’ means a concentration as defined in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 involving at least one media service provider or one provider of an online platform providing access to media content;
- (16)‘audience measurement’ means the activity of collecting, interpreting or otherwise processing data about the number and characteristics of users of media services or users of content on online platforms for the purposes of decisions regarding advertising allocation, pricing, purchases or sales or regarding the planning or distribution of content;
- (17)‘proprietary audience measurement’ means audience measurement which does not follow industry standards and best practices agreed through self-regulatory mechanisms;
- (18)‘public authority or entity’ means a national or subnational government, a regulatory authority or body, or an entity controlled, directly or indirectly, by a national or subnational government;
- (19)‘state advertising’ means the placement, promotion, publication or dissemination, in any media service or online platform, of a promotional or self-promotional message or a public announcement or an information campaign, normally in return for payment or for any other consideration, by, for or on behalf of a public authority or entity;
- (20)‘intrusive surveillance software’ means any product with digital elements specially designed to exploit vulnerabilities in other products with digital elements that enables the covert surveillance of natural or legal persons by monitoring, extracting, collecting or analysing data from such products or from the natural or legal persons using such products, including in an indiscriminate manner;
- (21)‘media literacy’ means skills, knowledge and understanding which allow citizens to use media effectively and safely and which are not limited to learning about tools and technologies but aim to equip citizens with the critical thinking skills required to exercise judgment, analyse complex realities and recognise the difference between opinion and fact.
Relevant Recitals for this Article
For the purposes of this Regulation, the definition of media service should be limited to services as defined by the TFEU and, therefore, should cover any form of economic activity. The definition of media service should cover, in particular, television or radio broadcasts, on-demand audiovisual media services, audio podcasts or press publications. It should exclude user-generated content uploaded to an online platform unless it constitutes a professional activity normally provided for consideration, be it of a financial or other nature. It should also exclude purely private correspondence, such as e-mails, and all services that do not have the provision of programmes or press publications as their principal purpose, meaning where the content is merely incidental to the service and not its principal purpose, such as advertisements or information related to a product or a service provided by websites that do not offer media services. Corporate communication and distribution of informational or promotional materials for public or private entities should be excluded from the scope of the definition. Furthermore, since the operation of media service providers in the internal market can take different forms, the definition of media service provider should cover a wide spectrum of professional media actors falling within the scope of the definition of media service, including freelancers.
Public service media providers should be understood to be those concurrently entrusted with a public service remit and receiving public funding for the fulfilment of that remit. That should not cover private media undertakings that have agreed to carry out, as a limited part of their activities, certain specific tasks of general interest in return for payment.
In the digital media market, video-sharing platform providers or providers of very large online platforms could fall under the definition of media service provider. In general, such providers play a key role in the organisation of content, including by automated means or by means of algorithms, but do not exercise editorial responsibility over the content to which they provide access. However, in the increasingly convergent media environment, some video-sharing platform providers or providers of very large online platforms have started to exercise editorial control over a section or sections of their services. Therefore, where such providers exercise editorial control over a section or sections of their services, they could be qualified as both a video-sharing platform provider or a provider of a very large online platform and a media service provider.
The definition of audience measurement should cover measurement systems developed as agreed by industry standards within self-regulatory organisations, like the Joint Industry Committees, and measurement systems developed outside self-regulatory approaches. The latter tend to be used by certain online players, including online platforms, that self-measure or provide their proprietary audience measurement systems to the market without abiding by the commonly agreed industry standards or best practices. Given the significant impact that such audience measurement systems have on the advertising and media markets, they should be covered by this Regulation. In particular, the capacity to provide access to media content and the ability to target their users with advertising allow online platforms to compete with the media service providers whose content they distribute. Thus, the definition of audience measurement should be understood as including measurement systems that enable the collection, interpretation or other processing of information about the use of media content and content created by users on online platforms that are primarily used to access such content. That would ensure that providers of audience measurement systems that are intermediaries involved in content distribution are transparent about their audience measurement activities, fostering the ability of media service providers and advertisers to make informed choices.
State advertising as defined in this Regulation should be understood broadly as covering promotional or self-promotional activities, public announcements or information campaigns undertaken by, for or on behalf of a wide range of public authorities or entities, including national or subnational governments, regulatory authorities or bodies and entities controlled by national or subnational governments. Such control can result from rights, contracts or any other means which confer the possibility of exercising a decisive influence on an entity. In particular, ownership of capital or the right to use all or part of the assets of an entity, or rights or contracts which confer a decisive influence on the composition, voting or decisions of the organs of an entity are relevant factors, as laid down in Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 . However, the definition of state advertising should not include official announcements that are justified by an overriding reason of public interest, such as emergency messages by public authorities or entities which are necessary, for example, in cases of natural disasters or health crises, accidents or other sudden incidents that can cause harm to individuals. When the emergency situation has ended, announcements pertaining to that emergency which are placed, promoted, published or disseminated in return for payment or for any other consideration should be considered state advertising.