AVMSD - Prohibition of incitement to hatred

Prohibition of incitement to hatred

What do the rules say? (Article 6)

Within the EU

The authorities in every EU country must ensure that audiovisual media services do not contain any incitement to hatred based on race, sex, religion or nationality. This is an issue, for instance, with channels that endorse violence against individuals or groups as the solution to social or political conflicts.

However, this has to be balanced against the democratic right to free speech. Because banning a television channel outright is such a radical move, it must remain a last resort. Indeed, during the over 20-year old history of the EU's TV directive, this has happened only a very few times, and so far only to services from outside the EU.

In addition, authorities in EU countries are required to act against:

hate speech channels using an uplink in an EU country
satellite capacity being used for hate speech broadcasts [see Jurisdiction of audiovisual directive].

Outside the EU

EU authorities have only limited powers to act against hate speech channels from outside the EU, such as outside satellite channels that can be picked up in parts of the EU.

The Commission regularly raises the issue of hate speech broadcasters in its political dialogue with the countries concerned, particularly those where the broadcasters are based.

Article 6
Member States shall ensure by appropriate means that audiovisual media services provided by media service providers under their jurisdiction do not contain any incitement to hatred based on race, sex, religion or nationality.

Full text of the Directive here !