The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has responded to the EU’s consultation on an update to its Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), calling for regulators to address challenges to the media and entertainment sector from Big Tech and AI.
Ahead of the closure of the directive’s consultation period, the EBU published its response in a paper outlining a number of key recommendations. Urging policymakers to “seize the opportunity” to safeguard the sector in updating the AVMSD. Aiming to address emerging technological and market challenges while reinforcing the Directive’s public interest objectives, the paper identified five key areas for consideration:
- Prominence of general interest media services – introduce mandatory rules ensuring that trusted content remains visible and accessible across all relevant devices and platforms.
- Protect media sustainability against gatekeeping – tackle harmful practices like unfair revenue sharing, ad replacements, and restrictive outlinking to empower media organisations to develop sustainable models.
- Reduce regulatory asymmetries – align the rules applied to video-sharing platforms with the stricter obligations governing audiovisual media service providers, ensuring consistent protections for audiences everywhere.
- Preserve proven rules benefiting the sector – maintain key provisions promoting access to major events, short news reporting and European works.
- Clarify the legal hierarchy – establish the AVMSD as lex specialis to ensure sector-specific rules take precedence over horizontal frameworks such as the Digital Services Act.
Commenting, Thomas Bergmann, senior policy adviser at the EBU, said, “The AVMSD remains a cornerstone of Europe’s media pluralism and cultural diversity, but the challenges we face today are unprecedented. Big tech platforms, connected devices, user interfaces and more recently AI slop are gatekeeping access to trusted and highly regulated media services. If left unchecked, these players risk depriving audiences of reliable journalism, culturally relevant content, and the diversity that underpins our democracies. The AVMSD must be revised with a clear strategy to preserve media sustainability and promote content that truly matters to our societies.”
