Author: Konstantina Bania
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The draft Media Bill: The UK’s take on prominence and findability regulation in the digital era
The UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport recently published the draft Media Bill. This is an initiative that media organisations operating in the UK (and beyond) have been eagerly anticipating, for it will determine media policy in a post-Brexit Britain. The Media Bill may also serve as a blueprint for how media regulation in…
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The interplay between the DMA and the AVMS Directive
Amidst a series of other initiatives in the area of platform regulation, preparations for the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) are well underway. The Commission is informally meeting with interested stakeholders in order to gather information about specific services and practices that should be covered by the DMA. Companies that meet the DMA thresholds are…
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Ofcom’s discussion document on media plurality and online news: Lessons for future regulatory interventions in the UK and beyond
On 16 November, Ofcom published a discussion document on media plurality and online news. The discussion document sets out Ofcom’s understanding of the role that online platforms, such as social media, search engines and news aggregators, play in the UK news ecosystem. Ofcom’s discussion document focuses on hot (yet understudied) topics. Even though it is now widely acknowledged that…
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Unravelling the Media Freedom Act proposal: Ambitious yet underwhelming?
On 16 September, the European Commission (“Commission”) published its much-anticipated proposal for a Media Freedom Act (“MFA”). The proposed MFA is an ambitious initiative. It includes rules that would apply to all actors of the media ecosystem (Member States, broadcasters, press publishers, on-demand players, online platforms). It also seeks to address several complex issues which have been facing…
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Designating large platforms under the DMA and the DSA: Comparing apples and oranges?
The Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) and the Digital Services Act (“DSA”) will soon start to apply. Broadly speaking, both instruments have the same objective, which is to address concerns arising from the increasing reliance on online platforms. However, despite being presented as parts of the same “package”, the DSA and the DMA do not have many similarities because they…
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Regulating big tech raises big implementation questions
A milestone was reached yesterday for the regulation of digital platforms: the Council of the European Union gave its final approval to the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”), following the European Parliament’s adoption of the legislative text in plenary on 5 July. The DMA, which will ensure the fairness and contestability of digital markets by setting out a list of…
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The European Media Freedom Act: A bold move raising bold questions
Digital regulation “aficionados” have been busy with the political agreement the EU institutions reached on the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) and the Digital Services Act (“DSA”). Nevertheless, there is another initiative in the pipeline that may not have received much attention to date, namely the European Media Freedom Act (“EMFA”). This initiative raises a number of questions: Could the EMFA undermine…
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The P2B Regulation is not consigned to oblivion: ACM launches market study, reminding us that transparency in the platform economy is important
The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) announced a few days ago that it will launch a market study into how platforms deal with the rules laid down in the Platform-to-Business (P2B) Regulation. The P2B Regulation is a regulatory initiative that may not have received the attention it deserves. This could be explained by…