2016 Annual Colloquium on fundamental rights Public consultation on "MEDIA PLURALISM AND DEMOCRACY" Response from UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) 13 July 2016 Ofcom is the independent public regulatory authority responsible for implementing the AVMS Directive in the UK. We have over 10 years’ experience of media content regulation and we are a converged regulator with responsibilities for telecommunications, spectrum and postal services. We welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important consultation and look forward to discussing the topics outlined here in more detail in the future. We have answered the questions where our expertise is most relevant. For any questions about this response, please contact Maria Donde (
[email protected]) B. Media freedom and pluralism 5. In the context of media freedom and pluralism, what should be the role of the State, if any, in the regulation of media? What should be the role of self-regulation? In the UK, all three models of media regulation (statutory, co- and self-regulation) are used. There are benefits in having a mixed approach, but also some challenges. Ofcom’s experience in regulating a number of sectors and working with a variety of statutory, co-regulatory and self-regulatory bodies suggests there are some core principles of effective regulation that are shared by all models. These principles are set out in our response to Question (7), below. In the UK, an inquiry into the regulation of the press conducted throughout 2011 – 2012 (the “Leveson Inquiry”) considered all forms of media regulation. Ofcom was asked to contribute to that Inquiry.