Brussels, 27/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - Slightly amending the report by British Conservative Christopher Beazley on the protection of minors and human dignity in audiovisual industries, the European Parliament's Culture and Media Committee welcomed the emergence or service providers' self-regulation facilities in the Member States and called on the Commission to promote and support networking and exchanges of experience between these bodies.
In line with the 25 January 1999 action plan to promote safer use of the internet, the Committee called on the Member States to set up hotlines to handle complaints about illegal or harmful content. The MEPs highlighted the need for greater co-operation at European and international levels to combat illegal content, wanting the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) consortium to work on the development of reliable filter and rating systems for digital broadcasting, while urging the Commission to promote the creation of user-friendly content filter systems at affordable prices so as to support parental control.
The Committee takes the view that technical measures are no substitute for making service providers liable for the content they provide and that consequently such providers should be legally required to comply with rules to protect minors from harmful content.