Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania 2019 Annual Report 2020 March 1 Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania 2019 Annual Report Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania RADIO AND TELEVISION COMMISSION OF LITHUANIA 2019 ANNUAL REPORT 16 March 2020 No ND-1 Vilnius 2 Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania 2019 Annual Report Contents CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE ................................................................................................................ 4 MISSION AND OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................... 8 MEMBERSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION ...................................................................................... 8 LICENSING OF BROADCASTING ACTIVITIES AND RE-BROADCAST CONTENT AND REGULATION OF UNLICENSED ACTIVITIES ............................................................................ 9 VŠĮ LIETUVOS NACIONALINIS RADIJAS IR TELEVIZIJA ..................................................... 24 THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS AND ENFORCEMENT .............................................................. 27 ECONOMIC OPERATOR OVERSIGHT AND CONTENT MONITORING ................................ 31 COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ON THE INTERNET ...................................................................... 42 EXTERNAL MEETINGS ................................................................................................................. 45 RTCL COOPERATION .................................................................................................................... 46 COMPETITION OF THE BEST IN RADIO AND TELEVISION PRAGIEDRULIAI ................... 49 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF STAFF ............................................................................ 51 PUBLICITY WORK BY THE RTCL .............................................................................................. 52 PRIORITIES FOR 2020 .................................................................................................................... 54 3 Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania 2019 Annual Report CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE It is my pleasure to present the annual report of the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (the “RTCL”) for the year 2019 prepared for the attention of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (the “Seimas”). The RTCL has been operating since 1996 when it was founded by virtue of the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public of the Republic of Lithuania (the “LPIP”). The LPIP ensures that the RTCL is an independent body accountable to the Seimas and responsible for the regulation and oversight of radio and television broadcasters, providers of on-demand audiovisual media services under the jurisdiction of Lithuania, including re-broadcasters and other persons based in Lithuania and engaged in the dissemination of television programmes and individual programmes via the Internet to viewers in Lithuania. As of 1 April 2019, the RTCL acts as the institution with the mandate to enforce copyright protection on the Internet. Given the current regulatory framework and the functions delegated to it, the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania is no longer just an institution that oversees the activities of radio and television broadcasters and re-broadcasters, and of other audiovisual media service providers. Following the passing of several amendments to the Law on Copyright and Related Rights of the Republic of Lithuania, the RTCL now has the mandate to enforce copyright protection on the Internet, and once the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (the “AVMSD”) is transposed into national law the RTCL will also be acting as the institution overseeing online video sharing platforms. Against the backdrop of these changes, the current name of the RTCL is no longer relevant. Moreover, the name itself, i.e. Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania, has often been confused with the supreme body—the Council—of the public broadcaster of Lithuania, i.e. Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija. Public information activities have increasingly moved online. Often, public information activities involve the use of not one but several methods of information presentation (for example, information websites will often present information in an audiovisual format or with sound). The RTCL acts as an institution overseeing the activities of audiovisual media service providers and other entities engaged in the dissemination of radio and television programmes, whereas the Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics (the “OIJE”) oversees all other originators and providers of public information. There are other points of contact between the functions of the RTCL and the OIJE. In an attempt to oversee the spread of public information more efficiently and to reduce the administrative burden on economic operators, efforts should be made to reorganise the RTCL and the OIJE by way of a merger resulting in the establishment of a new institution—the National Media Commission. If the two institutions were to be merged, i.e. the RTCL and the OIJE, the new body would jointly perform the functions delegated to the RTCL and the OIJE under the existing legal framework. The mandate of the new body would include the regulation and oversight of the entire public information sector. The regulatory work would be streamlined by eliminating surplus or overlapping functions. All these efforts would contribute to the creation of a stronger and more efficient regulatory body. The merging of the two institutions would undoubtedly contribute to a more effective fight against the threat of an information war. The centralised performance of the RTCL’s and OIJE’s 4 Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania 2019 Annual Report functions in the field of national security would ensure a more effective and efficient coordination within a single body. At the end of 2019, the RTCL was overseeing 107 entities engaged in both licensed and unlicensed activities. In the reporting year, for the purpose of performing its functions the RTCL held 26 meetings, 29 conference meetings, passed 83 decisions, imposed 25 administrative sanctions, out of which 23 were warnings and 2 were fines, handled 200 complaints and inquiries filed by individuals, sent 643 official documents and received 888 official letters. In 2019, just like in the previous years, the organisation of the RTCL’s activities was based on its strategic action plan. The Strategic Action Plan for 2019–2021 included the following key priorities in the reporting year: − more effective prevention of illegal broadcasting activities, provision of on-demand audiovisual media services, and of the dissemination of television programmes and individual programmes via the Internet; copyright protection; − consumer protection from harmful content in the audiovisual media; − more effective performance of the oversight functions associated with the economic operators regulated by the RTCL; − development of international cooperation with EU institutions and audiovisual media regulators of other Member States; − promotion of the RTCL’s activities. In 2019, the RTCL focused on copyright protection and the tackling of piracy online. As of 1 April 2019, following the entry into force of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights of the Republic of Lithuania, copyright owners have the option of applying to the RTCL with a request to issue mandatory orders to Internet service providers that provide services to third parties for the purpose of their commercial operations, i.e. illegal distribution of copyrighted content on the Internet. The said piece of legislation gives the mandate to the RTCL to issue mandatory orders to Internet service providers demanding that they block access to copyrighted content that has been published illegally by blocking the domain name associated with the site until copyright infringements are remedied. In 2019, the RTCL passed 16 decisions to block access to 19 sites that published copyrighted content illegally. In an attempt to protect consumers from harmful content in the audiovisual media, the RTCL engaged in continuous radio and television programme monitoring. In the reporting period, there were no proceedings instituted for reason of disinformation dissemination or incitement to hatred in the Russian-language programmes re-broadcast in Lithuania. It is likely that this positive performance was due to the proactive and effective efforts by the RTCL in this area over the past several years, and the amendments to the LPIP initiated by the RTCL which provide for more flexible possibilities to respond to incitement to hatred in the public domain quickly, in particular when incitement to hatred threatens national security. In the reporting period the RTCL also paid great attention to improving the regulatory aspects of the operator consultation and oversight process. For the purpose of establishing a process of preparing, delivering and announcing consultations, ensuring consistent and quality interpretation of the application of legal provisions as well as compliance with other legal requirements where this compliance is monitored by the RTCL, the Descriptor of the procedure of consultations to the public 5 Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania 2019 Annual Report was approved. The RTCL continued implementing measures aimed at strengthening the feedback process and assessing consumer satisfaction levels in relation to customer service. For the purpose of determining risk