Appeal to the Committee for Culture and Information to examine the quality of work of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media
The organisation CRTA filed an appeal to members of parliament and to members of the competent Committee for Culture and Information of the National Assembly urging them to schedule a session in order to examine the work of the Regulatory Authority of Electronic Media (REM), as the said authority decided that broadcasting of promotional political contents in the informative programme was in line with the law.
At the session held on February 6th 2019, the Regulatory Authority Council passed on the decision rejecting as unfounded complaints filed by more than 750 citizens because media outlets TV Prva and TV Happy broadcast a promotional video containing explicit political contents and political messages, and having a political impact on the viewers – which is directly contrary to articles 12 and 14 of the Law on Advertising which forbid covert and parallel advertising.
It is requested in the letter that members of the competent Committee for Culture and Information of the National Assembly schedule a session in order to examine the work quality of the REM in relation to its role and function which are stipulated by the law “… with the aim of protecting the public interest in the field of electronic media and of protecting the users of electronic media services, in accordance with the provisions of this Law, in a manner appropriate to a democratic society ” (article 5, paragraph 1 of the Law on Electronic Media).
Bearing in mind that the obligation of REM is to protect citizens from unequal and untrue information, which was not the case with the said decision, the CRTA addressed the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the competent Committee urging them to examine the REM’s actions in view of the said decision, as it severely jeopardises the public interest.
You can read the open letter here.
