Insight: an overview of media and entertainment law in Latvia

All questions

Overview

The media industry in Latvia has won recognition of its rights and privileges in opposition to the state and individuals. Investigative journalists working online and in print, radio and television (TV) have done groundbreaking work to reveal serious violations and crimes. Public media, mainly owing to its digital presence, has been recognised as a legitimate, trustworthy and useful source of information. However, financial instability endangers its existence. Additionally, fake news, particularly, in terms of social networks, is an ever growing problem. These issues diminish the overall image of the media in the eyes of society. Another issue is Russian-language TV channels, originating in Russia, which often violate the limitations of freedom of expression, distribute hate speech or ignore other principles of a free and responsible media.

One of the most important events of 2020, which drew major attention to the operation of the media in Latvia was the Riga City Council emergency elections. The National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEMMC) applied fines to several radio and TV channels claiming that they had organised covert agitations in the interests of some political parties.

In the field of entertainment, there have been cases of consumer rights infringements. However, the ongoing work of the Consumer Rights Protection Centre (CRPC) has helped to improve the situation, through both cooperation and law enforcement; for example, in 2021, the CRPC turned its attention to social media marketing and the operations of influencers. This resulted in warnings being issued and fines imposed on some popular Latvian influencers (see Section V.ii).

In September 2019, one of Latvia's three mobile operators, Bite, announced the acquisition of the major cable TV operator Baltcom. The merger was cleared by the Competition Council at the beginning of 2020, thus following the trend of consolidating telecoms businesses with content creation and entertainment businesses. Furthermore, at the end of 2021, Baltcom acquired Dautkom TV, expanding its operation in the Latgale region (see Section V.i).

One of the key milestones in Latvia in 2019 was the establishment of the Latvian Media Ethics Council, which is a self-regulatory, collegial mechanism for monitoring Latvian media ethics consisting of media companies and professional members of the Latvian Civic Alliance.²

During the 2020 covid-19 pandemic, state financial support was given to the media to promote awareness of measures taken during the emergency situation. Support was primarily provided to commercial media organisations and media aimed at national minorities, which were the categories recognised as being most severely affected by the pandemic. This financing has continued throughout 2021, but it is questionable whether it will ultimately be enough to sustain Latvia's public media sector.

Legal and regulatory framework

Freedom of the press is established in Article 100 of the Constitution of Latvia.³

The main umbrella law for the media in Latvia is the Press Law.⁴ Electronic media is regulated by the Law on Electronic Media,⁵ which, inter alia, implements the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive.⁶ The Electronic Communications Law⁷ regulates internet and intellectual property-based services and provides the legal basis for the powers of the Public Utilities Commission (the Regulator).⁸ Specific rules of the Law on Information Society Services⁹ apply to internet service providers.

Intellectual property issues are mainly regulated by the Copyright Law.¹⁰

The sector is also regulated by general regulations, such as the Consumer Protection Law, as well as Cabinet of Ministers regulations or decisions by the Regulator, relating to the above-mentioned laws.

The media and entertainment field is mainly regulated by the Regulator and the NEMMC.¹¹

The Regulator is an institutionally and functionally independent autonomous body governed by public law. It regulates business activities in the electronic communications sector and protects users' rights from a technological perspective. The Regulator's actions are based on the Law on Regulators of Public Utilities (2001),¹² as well as on other legal acts covering specific regulated sectors. In the field of electronic communications, the Regulator monitors the services provided by electronic communications companies, including voice telephony, the transmission of data and electronic messages and internet access.

The NEMMC is an independent, autonomous institution that represents the public interest in the field of electronic mass media. The NEMMC supervises the compliance of the operations of electronic mass media with the Constitution, the Law on Electronic Mass Media (LEMM) and other relevant legislation. The NEMMC is responsible for producing the National Strategy for the Development of the Electronic Mass Media.