The Media Act (2008) describes the public media mission: “the provision of public media services at national, regional and local level by offering media offerings that aim to provide a broad and diverse audience with information, including journalistic content, culture and education, through all available supply channels” (Article 2.1) and then describes the organisational structure, funding principles and operational scope of the Dutch national, regional and local public broadcasting system;
- basic requirements for commercial broadcasters
- obligations for providers of television and radio packages (like cable operators).
- regulations Video platform services
- regulations for the protection of minors
- the existence of an expertise centre for media education
- the broadcasting of events of particular social, cultural or sporting
- airtime for political parties and government
- establishment of an independent Dutch Media Authority.
- the establishment of a Dutch Journalism Fund (Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek) that encourages diversity of journalism through funding and conducting research.
Minster Eppo Bruins has proposed reform proposals for public media services to parliament (see chapter 2.1 key developments). See for a basic description of the system chapter 1.2.2. See for Dutch Journalism Fund chapter 3.5.3).
In 1997, in order to protect minors from harmful content, a system of self-regulation was developed by the Dutch Institute for the Classification of Audiovisual Media. The Kijkwijzer (Viewing Indicator) warns parents and educators if a television program or film can be harmful to children. There is an age indication (all ages, 6+, 9+, 12+ and 16+) and pictograms that signify the reason for this indication (violence, fear, sex, discrimination, drug and/or alcohol abuse and foul language). These indicators are also used for music videos, computer games and websites. On the basis of Article 4 of the Media Act (2008), public and commercial broadcasters are obliged to apply the Kijkwijzer if they want to broadcast programmes that are potentially harmful to children. The age indicators are meant as an advisory tool for parents and educators in the private sphere. However, for public spaces such as the cinema, the government has decided to attach legal consequences to the age limits of Kijkwijzer. The cinema admission policy is based on Article 240a of the Criminal Code.
The Media Act prescibes an expertise centre for media education. This role is performed by the Netwerk mediawijsheid (Dutch Media Literacy Network). The network consists of over a thousand organizations committed to media literacy. These include libraries, cultural institutions, media coaches, developers of teaching material, educational publishers, research institutes, IT companies, media producers and platforms, educational institutions and care and welfare organizations. The network was established as a program in 2008 as an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and managed by five core partners Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision, Kennisnet (expertise centre for ICT in education), ECP (an information society platform), HUMAN (Dutch public broadcaster), KB (National Library of the Netherlands). Its activities focus on three target groups: adolescents, adults and vulnerable groups.
Act on the Investment Obligation for Audiovisual Content
A recent policy to counterbalance the dominance of the big commercial American streaming services is the Act on the Investment Obligation for Audiovisual Content. Starting from 1 january 2024, big (international) streaming platforms (with a turnover more than 10 mlo) working in The Netherlands, are required to invest 5% of their annual turnover in Dutch audiovisual productions, like series, films and documentaries. A minimum of 75% must be Dutch of Friesian spoken. This will increase the availability of Dutch stories on streaming services and provide more opportunities for Dutch creators. The Dutch Media Authority supervises the obligation.
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