6 minute read
The European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) convened in Yerevan for its 62nd meeting.
EPRA was set up in 1995 in response to the need for increased co-operation between European regulatory authorities. With 30 years of experience and a robust network of working-level contacts, EPRA is the oldest and largest network of broadcasting regulators.
Armenia is represented by the Commission on Television and Radio.
Representatives of 56 regulatory authorities from 47 countries are attending the two-day event to discuss modern challenges facing the media, and paths to development.
The agenda of the conference includes the challenges of forming, promoting, and protecting media pluralism in the digital age, as well as the mechanisms for developing and implementing strategies in a rapidly changing environment.
At the opening of the conference, Tigran Hakobyan, Chairman of the Commission on Television and Radio, outlining the goals and scope of the discussions, noted that the event represents a very important working process.
“You all know very well what is happening in this explosive development of information: misinformation, propaganda—not only political—and their impact on minors, the country’s information security, and more. Since we do not have a large professional base here, learning about the field, making changes to legislation, and balancing both the right to freedom of speech and the right to protect people—our main source for this work is gatherings and conferences like this,” emphasized Hakobyan, highlighting that Armenia plays a significant role in similar European organizations and platforms.
This is the second time Armenia is hosting the meeting, first being in 2016.
“Different countries offer their services, and the secretariat of the EPRA regulatory bodies’ platform selects the country where the conference should be held. Seven to eight countries regularly offer their services, and all consider it an honor to host this conference,” said Hakobyan, adding that the Turkish delegation is also participating in the conference with four representatives.
According to the Chairman of the Commission on Television and Radio, cooperation with the Turkish regulatory body is very important because there are several online platforms in the Armenian language in Türkiye. The Armenian side, working together with the Turkish side, is trying to create favorable conditions for the broadcasting of these platforms.
Speaking about the challenges in the media sector and the work undertaken by the Commission to address them, Hakobyan noted that it is indeed a very complex task—especially from the perspective of balancing interests.
“Balancing is difficult, and there can always be various interpretations and speculations. Compared to the powers of other regulatory bodies, our authority is very limited. Only now the National Assembly is preparing to introduce amendments to the law. In other words, while audiovisual content-distributing online platforms are already regulated worldwide, we do not yet have such regulation, and today’s existing risks, misinformation, and hate speech come precisely from these platforms. No one in the world knows exactly where the line lies between freedom of speech and abuse of that freedom, and here it is very important to reach a consensus among society, authorities, the opposition, regulatory bodies, and the media,” Tigran Hakobyan said, adding that this issue will also be discussed at the conference.
Hakobyan added that representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Italy, Ukraine, and other countries are participating in the conference. He said that there are no representatives from Russia and Belarus simply because those countries are not members of the platform. Membership is limited to regulatory bodies that have independent status and are not part of the government.
“During today’s conference, we will discuss important issues related to the regulation of media activities, pluralism, and freedom,” EPRA Chair Stephanie Comey said. “We will also talk about the development of strategies for regulatory bodies. We believe it is truly important for regulatory bodies to develop strong and effective strategies that will help them fulfill their mission.”