Mass Communication Laws in

Different Countries

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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
What is mass communication..................................................................................................................3
Mass communication can be used for various purposes:.........................................................................3
Classification of media:...........................................................................................................................3
Mass Communication Law..........................................................................................................................4
Media Rights...........................................................................................................................................4
Legal framework.........................................................................................................................................5
International Conventions........................................................................................................................5
International Legal Laws of Media..............................................................................................................5
 European Union Law.......................................................................................................................5
 Constitutional Law..........................................................................................................................6
 Criminal Law...................................................................................................................................6
 Civil Law.........................................................................................................................................7
The Regulation of Broadcast Media............................................................................................................7
Media self-regulation...............................................................................................................................8
The Right to Freedom of Expression...........................................................................................................9
Limitations on the freedom of expression................................................................................................9
Media and The Protection of Personal Rights............................................................................................10
Protection of the strictly personal sphere...............................................................................................10
How to avoid invasion of privacy liability.............................................................................................10
The Right to Privacy..............................................................................................................................11
Defamation............................................................................................................................................11
Defenses to defamation....................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................12
References.................................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
What is mass communication
Mass communication can be defined as the process of creating, sending, receiving, and analyzing
messages to large audiences via verbal and written media. It is an expansive field that considers
not only how and why a message is created, but the medium through which it is sent. These
mediums are wide-ranging, and include print, digital media and the internet, social media, radio,
and television. Mass communication is multi-disciplinary in nature, incorporating elements of
related fields such as strategic communication, health communication, political communication,
integrated marketing communications, journalism.

The mass communication also can be said it’s the process whereby media organizations produce
and transmit messages to large publics and the process by which those messages are sought,
used, understood, and influences by audience.

Mass communication can be used for various purposes:

 Advocacy, both for business and social concerns. This can include advertising,
marketing, propaganda, public relations, and political communication.
 Enrichment and education.
 Entertainment, traditionally through performances of acting, music, and sports, also
through video and computer games.
 Journalism.
 Public service announcements.

Classification of media:
 Television cable, network, satellite.
 Radio.
 Film & Video.
 Print newspapers, magazines, direct mail.
 Photography.
 Electronic E -mail, the Web.

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Mass Communication Law
Mass Communication Law refers to the legal regulation of culture, entertainment, advertising,
broadcasting, telecommunications and generally anything relating to digital and analogue media. 
This can include books, video, audio, photographs, graphics, software, databases, online
publications and other content.

Communications and media law used to primarily affect journalists, publishers, and large
telephone companies. But since the advent of the Internet and desktop publishing, everyday
people are just as likely to face similar legal complications. Restaurants may sue people who post
defamatory reviews online, and blogging websites might be forced to remove content that
violates its terms of service. Responding to these possible infringements may require the legal
expertise of a lawyer.

Media Rights
 Freedom of Speech - The right to express information, ideas, and opinions free of
government restrictions based on content and subject only to reasonable limitations, as
guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
 Media - All forms of communication, usually related to news platforms; the plural of
medium, which is a single form of communication, such as print.
 Copyright - A person's exclusive statutory right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display,
and create derivative works from his or her original work of authorship.
 Censorship - The act of suppressing all or some of someone's creative work.
 Telecommunication - Any form of communication through a wire or electronic device,
especially a phone or Internet connection.
 Prior Restraint - The governmental review and suppression of speech before the
expression of speech actually takes place; usually unconstitutional.

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Legal framework
The law relating to mass media does not constitute a single field of law but is rather comprised of
a diverse set of laws and provisions that are scattered across the entire legal framework. The
foundations of the principles of media law can be found in the constitutions of many countries,
specific national legislation, as well as international conventions and acts dealing with this
subject.

International Conventions
 The following international treaties outline human and universal rights and freedoms,
including the freedom of expression and freedom of speech. These conventions have
important implications on the behavior and actions of states towards the media and
journalists:
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations General Assembly, 10
December 1948.
 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), General Assembly
resolution 2200A (XXI), 16 December 1966.
 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Council of
Europe, European Court of Human Rights, 1950.
 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
General Assembly Resolution 2106 (XX), 21 December 1965.

International Legal Laws of Media

 European Union Law
The Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union are the
two main sources of EU law relevant to the media. The Treaty on European Union represents
agreements between the EU Member States and focuses on principles of democracy, human
rights and the functioning of EU institutions. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union deals with the various fields of policy in which the EU can legislate.

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Within the EU, the media sector is primarily regulated on the national level, but there are a few
areas of media regulation, where the EU has well established competences. One aspect is
guaranteeing fair competition on the marketplace. Their legal basis is contained in the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union and addresses provisions regulating the free movement
of goods and services, competition policy, technological harmonization, culture, etc.2

A second important area of regulation regards the media sector in relation to human rights, the
freedom of expression and access to information and their importance for the functioning of a
democratic state. Protection of the freedom of the media is acknowledged by the European
Union as a fundamental right and is guaranteed by several legal instruments: the European
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Charter of
Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the common constitutional traditions of the
Member States.

 Constitutional Law
Protection of the freedom of expression, freedom of the press and, in some cases, the right of
access to information are guaranteed in the national constitutions of EU Member States. Also,
the prohibition against the censorship of the media and the right of access to information is
enshrined in constitutional law. General provisions related to the licensing of broadcast media
are also subject to constitutional provisions.

 Criminal Law
Criminal law regulates criminal acts and their consequences and, therefore, the relationship
between individuals and the state. Some violations brought by the media or individual journalists
can be subject to criminal prosecutions, for example, libel or slander, defamation of business
reputation, insult, incitement to racial or religious hatred, etc.

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 Civil Law
Civil law regulates interactions between individual legal subjects, including both natural persons and
legal persons. Civil cases related to the media and journalism can involve liability in relation to the
damage of honor or civil reputation, copyright issues, right to one’s own image, etc.

The Regulation of Broadcast Media

Broadcast media plays a central role in the functioning of modern societies, in particular in the
formation and transmission of social values. For this reason, the broadcasting sector is subject to
specific regulations based on common values, such as the freedom of expression, pluralism,
copyright protection, the promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity, the protection of minors
and of human dignity, etc.

In most democratic countries, broadcast regulators serve two primary functions. The first is
overseeing the allocation of broadcast frequencies through the award of licenses. Secondly, they
develop and implement codes of conduct that deal with various content and broadcast practice
topics.

In Europe, a so-called dual broadcasting model exists, which is characterized by the existence of
both public service and commercial broadcasters.

Public service broadcasters are financed and controlled by the public and are neither commercial
nor state-owned. Their main role is to contribute to a democratic and pluralistic society by
providing high quality programming to a diverse audience.

The regulation of public service media aims to guarantee its independence from political or
commercial interference, ensuring accountability towards the public and managing the allocation
of public funding. Public broadcasting regulators also closely monitoring the content they
produce in order to ensure their main functions are fulfilled.

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Media self-regulation
Given the role of the media as a government watchdog, the regulation of media activities by the
state, the very entity being observed, can be challenging. That is why many states have
established self-regulatory mechanisms, which set up specific rules for the media and oversee the
compliance of those rules through fellow media organizations and journalists.

Self-regulatory instruments can take the form of ethics codes, press and media councils and
professional guidelines.

Journalistic ethics codes define the roles, rights and duties of journalists and are developed by a
collaborative endeavor between media professionals to create voluntary editorial guidelines to
abide by.

Journalistic codes of conduct vary in different countries but also share some common elements,
including the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity and impartiality, the right of the
public to truth, the right to fair comment and criticism, the use of fair methods to obtain
information, the willingness to correct mistakes, and respecting the confidentiality of sources.

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The Right to Freedom of Expression
Freedom of expression is the ability to hold and openly express one’s opinions or ideas without
fear of censorship or government interference. The right to freedom of expression is not limited
to verbal communication but also includes the ability to express one’s views through published
articles, books or leaflets, television or radio broadcasting, works of art, the Internet and social
media. It also includes the right to receive information through various communication channels.

The term “media freedom” is often used alongside, or as an alternative to, the terms “freedom of
speech” or “freedom of expression”, but the protection of media freedom takes a special position
due to the media’s role as a “public watchdog” as well as its function to disseminate information
and ideas, thus guaranteeing the right of the public to receive this information.

Freedom of expression and media freedom are essential foundations for open and democratic
societies. The freedom to express one’s ideas and form an opinion is an important prerequisite
for political processes to function in a democratic way. At a national level, freedom of
expression is necessary for good government and, therefore, for economic and social progress.
At an individual level, freedom of expression is vital to the development, dignity and fulfillment
of every person. Without a broad guarantee of the right to freedom of expression, protected by
independent courts, there is no democracy and no free country.

Limitations on the freedom of expression

Freedom of expression and press freedom are not absolute rights and may be restricted in order
to protect the rights or reputations of others, for example by prohibiting speech that incites
violence or hatred against a particular group, to protect children from sexual exploitation or to
protect the reputation of individuals from false accusations.

These rights can also be limited when national security, public order, public health or morals are
endangered. In case of a conflict between the right to freedom of expression and other rights that
are protected under human rights law, such as personality rights, freedom of expression can be
subject to certain limitations. However, restrictions can only be imposed provided they are
“necessary in a democratic society”, “prescribed by law” and have a “legitimate aim.

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Media and The Protection of Personal Rights
The right to freedom of expression is not absolute and can be a subject to limitations when it
infringes upon the personal rights of others.

The mass media can violate personality rights in several ways. Two examples of personality
rights violations are the violation of an individual’s right to privacy and the spreading of false
information about a person that could negatively impact their reputation, a violation known as
defamation.

The term “personality rights” is not universally defined but is broadly used by international
courts and many national jurisdictions. It refers to a number of rights that protect the dignity and
emotional and psychological integrity of a person, such as the protection of reputation, the right
to privacy and private life, the right to the protection of one’s image.

Protection of the strictly personal sphere

Everyone has the right to privacy. It implies the citizens’ rights to be left alone or to have control
over the unwanted publication of their private information. Where the private sphere ends and
the public sphere begins depends on the context. In some cases, actions or incidents that occur
“in public” actually belong to the private sphere.

The goal of privacy laws is to protect people from unwanted intrusions into their private lives.
Many civil law jurisdictions also have specific provisions that protect an individual’s image,
personal data, name, likeness and other generally private information.

How to avoid invasion of privacy liability

The publication of true but private facts about an individual can lead to a claim of invasion of
privacy if the publicized information is highly offensive to a reasonable person, not generally
known to the public, widely communicated and if it is of no legitimate concern to the public.

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The Right to Privacy
The right to privacy is anchored in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Defamation
Defamation involves the act of making a false statement about another person that harms the
person’s reputation or good name. Such statements may be made orally (slander) or in writing
(libel).

Defamation laws aim to protect the reputations of individuals against injury. Nearly all countries
have legislation that addresses this matter, but the form and content of the legislation differs
considerably. Some countries have specific defamation statutes, while others have provisions in
more general laws. In a majority of Council of Europe Member States, defamation falls within
the scope of both civil and criminal law.

Defamation usually concerns only individual reputation, but defamation cases may also cover
claims made about “legal persons”, which are entities that have been granted legal status, such as
companies or corporations. Furthermore, in some countries a defamation suit can be brought in
order to protect the reputation of a group of people, a flag or an insignia, an office or an
institution.

Defenses to defamation
In defamation cases, the concept of journalistic due diligence plays an important role and can, if
proven, absolve a journalist of liability.

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Conclusion

1. Mass Communication refers to the means of public communication reaching a large

audience.
2. Classification of Media can be Television, network, Radio, Video, newspapers,
magazines, Photography.
3. Communication Law is a branch of law that consists of a system of legal norms that
regulate the activities of the mass media.
4. The law relating to mass media is comprised of a diverse set of laws and provisions that
are scattered across the entire legal framework.
5. International laws of media are (European Union Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal
Law, Civil Law).
6. The regulation of public service media aims to guarantee its independence from political
or commercial interference, ensuring accountability towards the public and managing the
allocation of public funding.
7. Freedom of expression and media freedom are essential foundations for open and
democratic societies.
8. Personal Rights refers to a number of rights that protect the dignity and emotional and
psychological integrity of a person.
9. Defamation laws aim to protect the reputations of individuals against injury.

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References

 Nicol, A.G., Millar, G. and Sharland, A., 2001. Media law and human rights (pp. 88-95). Oxford
University Press.
 azrights.com. Media Law. Retrieved from azrights.com:
https://azrights.com/media/articles/2019/09/media-law
 findlaw.com. What is Communications and Media Law. Retrieved from www.findlaw.com:
https://www.findlaw.com/hirealawyer/choosing-the-right-lawyer/communications-and-
media-law.html
 mastersincommunications.com. What is mass communication. Retrieved from
www.mastersincommunications.com:
https://www.mastersincommunications.com/faqs/what-is-mass-communication
 courses.lumenlearning.com. Defining Mass Communication. Retrieved from
www.courses.lumenlearning.com:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introductiontocommunication/chapter/defining-mass-
communication/

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