Call for streaming services to provide 'clear, prominent' complaints process for children 

The Children’s Rights Alliance said it is “vital to ensure that children and young people whose rights are not respected by the on-demand service provider(s) and who have exhausted all appropriate channels with the relevant service or platform, have access to an effective remedy in line with their rights under the European Convention of Human Rights.” File picture

The media regulator Coimisiún na Meán is being called on to provide children and young people with a “clear, prominent, and age-appropriate complaints handling process” in its new service code for video streaming services.

In July, the media watchdog published a draft service code and rules for providers of video-on-demand services. The regulator says the completed code and rules will be applied to video-on-demand service providers who have their EU headquarters in Ireland.

Under the proposed service code, measures are included to protect children from accessing inappropriate sexual or violent content:

• Provide on-screen warnings at the beginning of programmes for content which may be harmful to children.
• Ensure providers take appropriate measures to ensure that content containing pornography or gratuitous violence will not be shown to children.
• Provide for parental controls and age assurance to protect children from seeing harmful content 

Under the code’s complaints mechanism, Coimisiún na Meán says: “Audiences may make a complaint if they believe media service providers providing an audiovisual on-demand media service have not complied with this Code and Rules. 

"Coimisiún na Meán advises complainants to make their complaint to the audiovisual on-demand media service provider in the first instance as this is the quickest way to have a complaint considered and responded to."

In its submission to the media regulator on the draft code, the Children’s Rights Alliance said: “While the alliance acknowledges that a complaint in the first instance should be made to the on-demand media service provider, there appears to be very little information available on what the Coimisiún’s process for handling such complaints will be. 

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"As part of its oversight function, it is essential the Coimisiún requires on-demand media service providers to establish, operate and maintain clear, prominent, and age-appropriate complaints procedures.” 

The body said it is “vital to ensure that children and young people whose rights are not respected by the on-demand service provider(s) and who have exhausted all appropriate channels with the relevant service or platform, have access to an effective remedy in line with their rights under the European Convention of Human Rights.”