UK

Expert assessment

Ofcom is indeed a "convergent" regulator but any additional similarities between it and Hungary's Media Authority are not specified in the example above. Ofcom's current remit includes commercial broadcast TV and radio (including their websites) and telecommunications but not traditional print or online media (unless supplied by TV and radio broadcasters) or many areas of the BBC.51 Ofcom's principle role involves managing competition issues and allocating licenses in order to prevent market concentration and to ensure media pluralism. It also has the power to sanction broadcasters—including with fines, suspensions and license revocations—for breaches to the Communications Act 2003, as well as to consumer-protection regulations, competition laws and OFCOM's own Broadcasting Code.52

Ofcom was established as the UK's new "super regulator" by the Communications Act 2003 following an extensive three-year public debate.53 This law created Ofcom as the central regulatory authority for TV and radio broadcasting, and the telecommunications and postal sectors. It replaced the five existing regulatory boards with a single regulator in effort to streamline the UK's media and communications regulatory structure. 54 However, Ofcom has pursued a so-called "light-touch" policy toward its regulatory duties and has increasingly opted for co-regulatory schemes, delegating a number of regulatory responsibilities to other bodies: the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD) now oversees television on demand; 55 the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) monitors advertising and marketing regulations for all media in the UK; 56 and the Secretary of State for Sport, Culture and Media and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry have recently assumed more regulatory responsibilities as well.57

Ofcom is divided into eight committees, including the Ofcom Board, the Executive Board, the Spectrum Clearance and Awards Programme Management Board, the Operations Board, and the Content Board.58 Each unit is responsible for different areas of media and telecommunications regulations within Ofcom. Ofcom's strongest regulatory presence is in the broadcasting sector. Its oversight encompasses the following: content (ensuring high programme standards, diversity, etc.); competition (promoting choice of viewing and listening); media ownership (safeguarding plurality); media literacy (empowering consumers in accessing services); and spectrum management (ensuring efficient use of spectrum).59 Ofcom is also responsible for protecting audiences against offensive or harmful material, as defined in numerous sections Communications Act 2003,60 in Articles 10 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights,61 and in Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.62

The Broadcasting Code is a set of basic content regulations for all broadcasters, which includes restrictions on content that harms minors or materials that contains "offensive language, violence, sex, sexual violence, humiliation, distress, violation of human dignity, discriminatory treatment or language (for example on the grounds of age, disability, gender, race, religion, beliefs and sexual orientation)."63 However, Ofcom in 2004 ceded responsibility for monitoring compliance with these standards for radio and TV advertising to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA has developed extensive codes applicable to all media, including web-based advertising, designed to protect consumers from misleading or offensive advertising.64

A key debate during the drafting of the Communication Act 2003 was over whether Ofcom's authority should extend to the Internet. The final bill gave Ofcom oversight over the websites of broadcasters but not general "online content" or the websites of the BBC.65 Online content is mostly self-regulated by professional codes developed by various bodies, such as the Press Complaints Commission, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the Internet Crime Forum, and Home Office Internet Task Force on Child Safety. More recently, Ofcom considered extending its remit to include on-demand video services on the Internet, after the UK adopted the Audiovisual Media Services Directive in 2009. After an extensive review and consultation with industry representatives and the public, Ofcom decided to adopt the co-regulatory approach, ceding regulatory responsibilities for editorial and advertising content of on-demand video services to the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD) and the ASA, respectively.66

Another point of debate during the bill's drafting was over media ownership rules. Lawmakers and media owners supported lifting the then-existing ban on major newspapers from owning terrestrial TV channels. In the final law passed by Parliament, this ban was relaxed in order to promote competition and lawmakers reluctantly ceded to adding a "public interest plurality" clause that allows the secretary of state to assess and block any mergers or deals that could compromise media pluralism and increase media concentration.67 The secretary of state in fact retains a number of (limited) regulatory powers over spectrum management and other areas of media and communication regulations, including the right to issue directions to Ofcom in cases involving national security, international relations and obligations, and in the interest of public safety. 66

50 See "Criticism 10," in "Criticisms and answers formulated on the subject of the proposed media act examined in a European context," December 20, 2010. http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-public-administration-and-justice/news/criticisms-and-answers-formulated-on-the-subject-of-the-proposed-media-act-examined-in-a-european-context
51 See a summary of Ofcom's regulatory scope, available at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/what-is-ofcom/
52 See Ofcom's Broadcasting Code, available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/guidance/programme-guidance/bguidance/
53 Communications Act 2003, available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/contents
54 Ofcom replaced the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Independent Television Commission, the Office of Communications, and Radio Authority, and the Radio Communications Agency.
55 Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD), available at: http://www.atvod.co.uk/
56 Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), available at: http://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA/Who-we-are.aspx#our remit
57 The recent Public Bodies Bill returns the policy-setting role to the Secretary of State who will decide when to conduct PSB and media ownership reviews, for example. See a review of these changes here: http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/media_releases/7485.aspx
58 See Ofcom's management structure, available at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/how-ofcom-is-run/
59 "Why Ofcom?" Andew Stirling, Manager, Strategy Development of Ofcom, EBU Technical Review, October 2004, http://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_300-ofcom.pdf
60 Communications Act 2003, Articles 3(4)(g) and (l) and 319(2)(a), (f) and (l), available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/contents
61 Article 10 protects freedom of expression; Article 14 prohibits discrimination; see Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, available at: http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/treaties/html/005.htm
62 See explanation of "harmful material" under the Broadcasting Code, available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/broadcast-code/harmoffence/
63 Section 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code on "Harm and Offence," available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/broadcast-code/harmoffence/
64 See the Advertising Standards Authority's advertising codes, available at: http://www.asa.org.uk/Advertising-Codes.aspx
65 See Article 198, "OFCOM in relation to the BBC," the Communications Act 2003, available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/section/198
66 "Statement on regulation of on-demand services," Ofcom, 18 December 2009, available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/vod/statement/
67 Communications Act 2003, Chapter 5, Article 350, on "Media ownership and control," http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/part/3/chapter/5