Spain already imposes obligations on powerful people: what does the law that regulates them say?

It entered into force on 9 July Spain new General Law of Audiovisual Communicationlegal text that includes the role of so-called influencers who, through platforms YouTube or Twitterpromote services or products of third parties or share information that may have an impact on society, a fact that does not go unnoticed by the authorities and is now regulated.

Law 13/2022 of July 7 “General Communication” published in the “Official State Gazette” (BOE) includes general principles applicable to the entire audiovisual field, such as the obligation to convey a respectful portrayal of people with disabilities, the protection of users regarding content that offends the dignity of women or the reliability of information.

Among some of the sections included in this law, one stands out that deals with types of commercial communications, the right to exercise them, or the rights of minors in the audiovisual field.

In addition, there is a section in this regulatory framework, in particular Article 94, which includes the obligations of “particularly relevant users” who use video sharing services through the platform. What became known as influencers, vloggers or prescribing opinions who share videos via YouTube, Twitter or other social networks.

“The emergence and consolidation of these new agents requires a legal framework that reflects market developments and allows for a balance between access to these services, consumer protection and competition”, as expressed in the preamble.

Influencers must be held accountable

Legislation recognizes activities influencers, who carry out economic activities, receiving income from their videos, and are editorially responsible for the content they publish. And he also points to the impact his videos can have on the public, especially the youth.

For this reason, they must be included in the newly created register administered by the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation, and their content must comply with a number of principles referred to in Article 86, such as respect for human dignity and values. constitutional rights, promotion of a stereotype-free image of people with disabilities and gender equality, as well as media literacy activities.

influencersIn addition, they must have a set of guidelines and codes of conduct to guide their work, which they themselves must establish and enforce and enforce. They may also subscribe to agreements promoted by the competent audiovisual authority.

In accordance with Article 99, these people must pay attention to the “physical, mental or moral development of minors”, for which they must have warnings about the type of content they broadcast from their channels, separating, if any, videos containing scenes of gratuitous violence or pornography.

According to Europe Press