North MacedoniaLaw on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, Video-Sharing Platform Minor Protection and Age Verification
In force since .
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding private bodies.
What it requires
- Applies to video-sharing platform providers under the jurisdiction of North Macedonia as Article 144-a sets it: among other links, a provider established there or whose parent undertaking is established there, and, when its parent is not established in an EU member state, a provider whose subsidiary or another undertaking of its group is established there.
- Set appropriate measures in your terms of use to protect minors from programs, user-generated videos and audiovisual commercial communications that may harm their physical, mental or moral development (Articles 144-v(1) and 144-g(1)).
- Establish and operate systems that verify the age of the platform's users with respect to content that may impair a minor's physical, mental or moral development (Article 144-g(5)).
- Provide parental control systems under the control of the end user for such content (Article 144-g(5)).
- Place a warning at the start of each program, user-generated video or commercial communication that may impair a minor's development, and show a sign that it is unsuitable for minors for its whole duration (Article 144-g(3)).
- Apply the strictest measures to protect minors from the most harmful content, such as excessive violence and pornography (Article 144-gj(1)).
- Do not process the personal data of minors collected or generated in applying these measures for commercial purposes such as direct marketing, profiling and analysis, or behavioral advertising (Article 144-g(6)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Penalty structure
Article 148(1), item 30: a fine of 2,500 to 3,000 euros in denar equivalent on a legal person that does not take appropriate measures under Articles 144-v and 144-g. Article 148(2) adds a fine of 250 to 500 euros on the person responsible for the program, the responsible person in the legal person, a natural person and a sole trader. Under Article 150 the court may also ban the legal person from the activity for six months to two years.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Minimum
- 2,500
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 3,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services (Агенција за аудио и аудиовизуелни медиумски услуги); misdemeanor fines are imposed by the competent court
What it reaches
Covered services
Video-sharing platform providers under the jurisdiction of North Macedonia as Article 144-a sets it, which reaches a provider established there or whose parent undertaking is established there, and some providers whose subsidiary or group undertaking is established there while the parent is outside the EU
How the hook was established
express
What makes it apply
Operator establishment
Obligation class
Age verification, Access restriction
What this law does
Article 144-v (144-в) of the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services requires a video-sharing platform provider under the jurisdiction of North Macedonia to take appropriate measures to protect minors from programs, user-generated videos and audiovisual commercial communications that may harm their physical, mental or moral development.
Article 144-g(1) (144-г) requires a video-sharing platform provider to set out, in the terms of use of its service, appropriate measures protecting minors from content that may harm their physical, mental or moral development. Article 144-g(5) requires a video-sharing platform provider's minor-protection measures to include establishing and operating systems that verify the age of the platform's users with respect to content that may impair a minor's physical, mental or moral development.
Article 144-g(5) also lists parental control systems under the control of the end user for content that may impair a minor's physical, mental or moral development. Article 144-g(3) requires a warning at the start of each program, user-generated video or commercial communication that may impair a minor's development.
Article 144-g(6) bars processing the personal data of minors collected or generated by a video-sharing platform provider in applying its Article 144-g measures for commercial purposes such as direct marketing, profiling and analysis, or behavioral advertising. Article 144-gj (144-ѓ) requires the strictest measures to ensure that minors are protected from the most harmful content, such as excessive violence and pornography.
The Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services assesses the measures video-sharing platform providers take and supervises their application. Article 148(1)(30) makes not taking appropriate measures under Articles 144-v and 144-g a misdemeanor of a legal person. The Law amending and supplementing the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, adopted on , inserted the chapter on video-sharing platforms, Articles 144-a to 144-zh. The 2023 amending Law was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia No. 154 of .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app publishes adult content or operates a social platform.
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