Call for urgent changes to the controversial draft Media Act

SOEK (Section of Electronic Communications Operators) is calling for amendments to the draft Media Act because, as they wrote, it is inconsistent with Slovenian and European legislation.

Photo: Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

The bill requires operators to transmit programmes of special interest free of charge while also paying royalties. This would impose a double financial burden on operators and violate European regulations.

They say that the draft law gives AKOS (the Agency for Communications Networks and Services of the Republic of Slovenia) too broad powers to decide on media concentration and introduces the incompatibility of media and advertising activities without justification. It also disproportionately extends the obligation to publicly publish advertising data to all state-owned companies, which could harm competition.

SOEK warns that the draft law threatens the impartiality, pluralism and independence of the media and calls for urgent changes to ensure compliance with European rules and standards.

We also asked T-2 for a comment: "At T-2, we join the call for an urgent amendment to the draft of the new Media Act (ZMed-1), as it imposes obligations on operators that are not in line with Slovenian and European legislation. At T-2, we fully agree with the arguments presented in detail in relation to the controversial draft law by the Section of Electronic Communications Operators (SOEK) of the Association for Informatics and Telecommunications at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry."