BulgariaRadio and Television Act (ZRT), Arts. 17a and 19d, Protection of Minors and Video-Sharing Platform Age Verification
In force since .
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding public and private bodies.
- How the hook was established
- express
- What makes it apply
- Operator establishment
- Obligation class
- Age verification, Content labelling
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Applies to media service providers and video-sharing platform providers.
- Do not create or distribute programmes that could harm a child's physical, psychological, moral or social development (Art. 17a(1)).
- Follow the Code of Conduct the Council for Electronic Media adopts with providers, including the public broadcasters BNT and BNR, which prescribes measures such as scheduling, age-verification tools and encoding to assess, label and restrict access to harmful programmes.
- If you run a video-sharing platform, take appropriate measures, including age-verification systems, to protect children from user-generated videos and audio-visual commercial communications that could harm their development, alongside signalling, parental-control and media-literacy measures (Art. 19d).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text. Also read by: Council for Electronic Media (Съвет за електронни медии, СЕМ) (guidance, recorded ).
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Penalty structure
Article 126(4) sets a property sanction of BGN 15,000 to 30,000 for a media service provider's violation of Article 17a(1); Article 126(6) doubles the sanction on a repeat violation. A video-sharing platform provider's violation of the Act, including Article 19d, carries a property sanction of BGN 2,000 to 5,000 under Article 126d, doubled on repetition.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- BGN
- Fixed cap
- 30,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Savet za elektronni medii (Council for Electronic Media), Bulgaria's independent regulator for media services and video-sharing platforms.
Settledness
- As of
- Guidance link
- https://www.cem.bg/files/1673946952_code__17a.pdf
- Guidance body
- Council for Electronic Media (Съвет за електронни медии, СЕМ)
- Open questions
- Does a video-sharing platform provider meet the duty in Article 19d(8) point 4 of the Radio and Television Act to operate 'системи за проверка на възрастта' (age-verification systems) by agreeing its terms of service with the Council for Electronic Media under points 27 to 31 of the Code of Conduct, when those points name no age-verification system?
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Articles 17a and 19d require age-check, reporting, parental control and complaint measures and state no duty to create or keep a log or record.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
A media service provider must not create or distribute programs that could harm a child's physical, psychological, moral or social development, per Article 17a(1). The Council for Electronic Media adopts a Code of Conduct with providers, including the public broadcasters BNT and BNR, prescribing measures such as scheduling, age-verification tools and encoding to assess, label and restrict access to harmful programs, per Article 17a(3) and (4).
Since the 2020 transposition of the amended AVMSD, a video-sharing platform provider must take appropriate measures, including age-verification systems, to protect children from user-generated videos and audio-visual commercial communications that could harm their development, alongside signalling, parental-control, and media-literacy measures, per Article 19d. A media service provider that violates Article 17a(1) is subject to a property sanction of BGN 15,000 to 30,000, doubled on a repeat violation.
A video-sharing platform provider that violates the Act is subject to a property sanction of BGN 2,000 to 5,000 under Article 126d, with the sanction doubled for a repeat offence.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app publishes adult content, operates a social platform or serves under-18s.
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