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Bad words, violent behavior and vulgarities continue to be part of the daily television programming in Serbia, as the electronic media regulator did not adopt a regulation according to which the transmission of reality programs would only be possible by the night, in the period from 11 to 5 in the morning. There are many reactions to such a decision.
No restrictions for the Cooperativa, Parejas and other reality shows, the members of the REM Council decided. The result is a tie, and REM is still divided into new and old members. Elders say the current Electronic Media Law is a sufficient legal basis for oversight of reality shows, while others say the law has been ignored for years.
Due to the division of REM, minors suffer, says REM member Slobodan Cvejić. “The Electronic Media Law, which is crucial to REM’s work, defining how REM is established and how it operates, in article 68, paragraph 2, says that the regulator is obliged to do something to protect children and young people of harmful content., that is, it says that it can be harmful. So it is not important to measure at first whether it is harmful or not, but if it is potentially assessed to be harmful, you have reason to pass such regulation, “says Cvejić.
Such regulation existed in 2015, says former REM Council member Gordana Susa, but in 2016 it was replaced by recommendations, which are not binding. Yet despite that, the law is clear: reality shows have nothing to look for on screens during the day.
“Do you see that farce? The REM members are voting if they will apply the law. There is no voting here, the law is very clear. This is only to deceive the public,” emphasizes Susa.
Unlike Serbia, the countries in the region respect the laws, so they decided to protect their minors from Serbian reality shows, whose screening was banned during the day by North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
The ban is also necessary in Serbia, because the law is not respected, says the president of the Association for the Protection of Constitutionality and Legality, Savo Manojlovic.
“If the current law is respected, all the violators of the decisions could be sanctioned. However, REM obviously does not have the institutional and personal capacity. You had a situation in which the televisions began to persecute the national frequency assigned to them. , and it was precisely determined that you have to have a cultural, scientific and documentary program, TV Happy used more than 50 percent of the programs to promote reality shows. TV Pink and up to a third of the programs, had no trace of culture or science. This is an obvious violation of the law – they had to be taken off the frequency. REM obviously doesn’t do that, “says Manojlović.
Because REM is not doing its job, 40,000 citizens petitioned the National Assembly in August 2019 to amend the Electronic Media Law and demanded a restriction on the broadcast of reality shows at night time. Since then, the law has been waiting for the deputies to discuss it, but first it must receive a positive position from the Government of Serbia, that is, the competent Ministry of Culture and Information.
When asked if and when the new Culture Minister Maja Gojković will give the green light to the changes to the law requested by 40 thousand citizens of Serbia, from the Ministry of Culture without answer.
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