Media Regulation in the Digital Age

Who keeps the media in check?

The media is powerful, so it does not run entirely free. A set of rules and the bodies that enforce them, together called regulation, decide what may be shown, to whom, and when. This module works through the whole picture: - The regulators: the bodies that oversee film, television, advertising, games and the press. - Two kinds of rule: self-regulation, where an industry polices itself, and statutory regulation, backed by law. - Why we bother: protecting audiences, especially children, and keeping content honest and fair. - The digital problem: why the online world is so much harder to police. Ownership and funding, the money side of the industry, belong to a separate module. Here the focus is regulation and the rules the media must live by.

Words for media regulation

Five terms you need before you use them. Learn what each one means.

Match each regulator to what it oversees

Self-regulation against statutory regulation

Not all regulation works the same way. The big divide is whether the law stands behind it, and each side has trade-offs.

Which body would handle this?

A television advert is accused of being misleading about what a product can do. Which body would deal with the complaint?

• The advertising watchdog, the ASA
• The film classification body, the BBFC
• The games rating system, PEGI
• No body at all, since adverts are never checked

Tap the two genuine reasons we regulate the media

Tap the TWO statements that are genuine reasons for regulating the media.

• To protect children from harmful or unsuitable content
• To keep advertising honest and stop it misleading people
• To make sure every media company earns the same money
• To force everyone to enjoy exactly the same programmes

Regulating the digital age

The rules for television and cinema were built for a world of a few channels and a clear gatekeeper. The online world breaks nearly all of those assumptions. Online content is vast, uploaded faster than anyone could ever watch it, and global, so it crosses borders that a single national law cannot. There is often no gatekeeper deciding what goes out, since anyone can publish, and age checks are easy to dodge. That is why regulating streaming, social media and user-made content is one of the hardest problems in the media today. Governments are writing new online-safety rules, but balancing protection against free expression, across the whole internet, is far from settled.

Pick the true facts about regulation

Select the TWO statements that are true.

• Age ratings help audiences and parents choose suitable content
• Online content is harder to regulate than traditional broadcast television
• Regulation exists mainly to make media companies richer
• Self-regulation means there are no rules at all

Order how a complaint is handled

Put the stages of how a regulator deals with a complaint about media content in order.

• A viewer is troubled by something they saw and complains
• The complaint goes to the relevant regulator
• The regulator checks it against its published standards
• The regulator decides whether a rule was broken
• It may order changes, an apology or a penalty

One film, past every gate

Follow a single action film on its journey to an audience, and see the checks it must pass.\n\nBefore release: the film is watched by the ratings body, which decides which age group it suits and, if a scene goes too far, may ask for a cut. On television: when it is later shown on a channel, the broadcaster must obey the standards for what may be aired, and before which time of the evening. In its advertising: the poster and the trailer must be honest and must not mislead, or the advertising watchdog can order them withdrawn. Three different bodies, each guarding a different gate, and the film has to satisfy every one of them. None of this decides whether the film is any good. It decides only that it is suitable, honest, and shown to the right audience at the right time.

Complete the media regulation facts

The rules and bodies that control what the media may show are called _____. When an industry writes and polices its own rules, that is _____ regulation. Regulation that is backed by the law is _____ regulation. Sorting films and games by the audience they suit is _____.

Build a regulation point

Choose the words that complete this statement about why regulation is hard today.

The media regulation run

Five questions on media regulation. Three lives.

Call the right regulator

Read each case and choose the best response, then think about why.

• A parent worries that a video game may be too violent for a young child. What helps them decide?
• A newspaper story is accused of being inaccurate and unfair to someone. Who deals with such a complaint?
• Harmful content spreads across social media in many countries at once. Why is this so hard to regulate?

Explain how the media is regulated

A student in the year below does not understand how the media is kept in check. Explain it using what this module has covered.

• Explain what media regulation is and why it exists
• Explain the difference between self-regulation and statutory regulation
• Explain how age ratings help audiences
• Explain one reason the digital age makes regulation harder
• Finish with a balanced view on how strictly the media should be regulated