La defensa de los derechos de la ciudadanía en el entorno audiovisual

Laburpena

It is evaluated in this presentation what is the legal recognition thatthe main of citizens’ rights as users of the audiovisual communication media and receiver of their contents. For this, the latest modification of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive approved in 2018 and the Spanish new General Law of audiovisual Communication, in the preliminary phase when preparing this presentation, has been analyzed, both in the light of the law currently in force. The exegetical and comparative analysis make possible to value the progress that the Directive modification implies in order to achieve similar rules of the game for all operators that provide the audiovisual communication service, including OTT platforms and internetplatforms, and also some significant advances typical of the Spanish legal framework compared to the European Directive. However, important regulatory differences still persist between a highly regulated television market and the aforementioned streaming and video-sharing platforms, which still maintain comparatively more lax regulation. This supposes not only a market distortion, but also a deficit in the defense of citizenship, which sees the body of rights from which they can benefit modified depending on whether they choose one or another alternative audiovisual offer. And this is especially worrying in the case of minors, as a vulnerable population subject to special protection.