Recommendation 2048 (2014) Final version

Violence in and through the media

Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly

Origin - Assembly debate on 24 June 2014 (22nd Sitting) (see Doc. 13509, report of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, rapporteur: Sir Roger Gale; and Doc. 13536, opinion of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Ms Maryvonne Blondin). Text adopted by the Assembly on 24 June 2014 (22nd Sitting).

1. Referring to its Resolution 2001 (2014) on violence in and through the media, the Parliamentary Assembly welcomes the Council of Europe’s youth campaign against hate speech online and encourages member States to actively support the campaign.

2. As violent media services and products are produced throughout Europe, including in countries which are not members of the European Union, the Council of Europe is the appropriate authority to address this subject from a European perspective, based on Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5), which sets the standards for all 47 member States of the Council of Europe.

3. Recalling the important legal and political guidance provided by the Committee of Ministers in its Recommendation No. R (97) 19 on the portrayal of violence in the electronic media, as well as Recommendation No. R (89) 7 concerning principles on the distribution of videograms having a violent, brutal or pornographic content, the Assembly believes that further work is necessary in this field.

4. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

4.1. instigate the preparation of practical guidance to parents, teachers and providers of media services and products on how to deal with violence in the media and its effects on individuals and society as a whole, and how to counteract its potential impact;

4.2. encourage, through relevant partnerships between intergovernmental bodies and private stakeholders, possibly in co-operation with the European Union and UNESCO, the standardised rating of violent content by the producers and access providers of such content throughout Europe and beyond;

4.3. call on governments of member States to forward this recommendation and Resolution 2001 (2014) on violence in and through the media to their regulatory authorities and public service broadcasters.