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Broadcasting
Services Act, 2001
April 04, 2001
Contents
PART
V
Codes
of Conduct and Programme Standards
24. Development
of codes of conduct
25. Minister
may require Authority to determine programme standards in certain cases
24 Development
of codes of conduct TOP
(1) The Authority
shall, in consultation with broadcasting licensees, develop codes of conduct
governing—
(a) the rules
of conduct to be observed by broadcasting licensees;
(b) the standards
and practices to be observed in advertising through a broadcasting service,
including the prohibition of certain methods and practices of advertising,
the length of advertisements and times at which certain advertisements
may not be aired or aired with restrictions.
(2) Without derogating
from the generality of subsection (1) codes of conduct shall provide
for—
(a) broadcasting
of programmes that are in accordance with community values and standards;
and
(b) methods of
ensuring the expression of children while protecting them from exposure
to programme material which may be harmful to them; and
(c) methods of
classifying programmes; and
(d) promoting
accuracy, balance, fairness and completeness in news and current affairs
programmes; and
(e) the safeguarding
of national security; and
(f) the ethics
and standards of coverage of civil and public disorder; and
(g) preventing
the broadcasting of programmes that—
(i) simulate
news or events in a way that misleads or alarms the audience; or
(ii) depict
the actual process of putting a person into a hypnotic state; or
(iii) are designed
to induce a hypnotic state in the audience; or
(iv) use or
involve the process known as "subliminal perception" or
any other technique that attempts to convey information to the audience
by broadcasting messages below or near the threshold of normal awareness;
(h) such other
matters relating to programme content as may be of concern to the community.
(3) Codes of conduct
developed in consultation with—
(a) commercial
broadcasting licensees shall specify what broadcasting time shall be
allocated to advertising the standards that are to apply to advertisements;
and
(b) commercial
radio broadcasting licensees shall specify what quota of Zimbabwean
and African music shall be played in addition to that prescribed by
this Act; and
(c) broadcasting
licensees generally shall provide for—
(i) methods
of handling complaints from the public about programme content or
compliance with codes of conduct; and
(ii) methods
of reporting to the Authority on complaints so made;
and
(d) television
broadcasting licensees, shall provide for the captioning of programmes
for the hearing impaired; and
(e) community
broadcasting licensees shall provide for—
(i) the kinds
of sponsorship announcements that may be broadcast by those licensees;
or
(ii) the kinds
of sponsorship announcements that particular kind of programme may
carry;
and
(f) broadcasting
licensees generally, shall provide for the granting of a right of reply
where it is sought and justified; and
(g) subscription
broadcasting licensees shall provide for dealings with customers of
the licensees, including methods of billing, fault repair, privacy and
credit management.
(4) Any code of
conduct governing the matters referred to in subsection (2) or (3)
that, immediately before the date of commencement of this Act, was applied
by a public broadcaster or other person lawfully providing a roadcasting.
webcasting or subscription satellite broadcasting service, shall be lodged
by that person with the Authority for review in terms of subsection (7).
(5) In developing
codes of conduct relating to matters referred to in paragraphs (a)
and (c) of subsection (2), community attitudes to the following matters
are to be taken into account—
(a) the portrayal
in programmes of physical and psychological violence;
(b) the portrayal
in programmes of sexual conduct and nudity;
(c) the use in
programmes of offensive language, including hate speech;
(d) the portrayal
in programmes of the use of drugs, including alcohol;
(e) the portrayal
in programmes of matter that is likely to incite or perpetuate hatred
against, or vilifies, any person or group on the basis of ethnicity,
nationality, race, gender, natural difference or condition, age, religion
or physical or mental disability;
(f) the reasonable
protection of an individual’s name and reputation;
(g) such other
matters relating to programme content as are of concern to the community.
(6) If the Authority
is satisfied in relation to any code of conduct that—
(a) the code
provides appropriate community safeguards for the matters covered by
the code; and
(b) members of
the public have been invited to comment on the code;
the Authority shall
recommend to the Minister that the code be published in the Gazette,
and the code shall, from the date of its publication, be binding on all
the broadcasting licensees concerned.
(7) The Authority
shall periodically conduct a review of any code of conduct developed,
lodged or published in terms of this section to ensure that it is in accordance
with prevailing community values and standards.
(8) The Minister
shall, on the advice of the Authority, prescribe a schedule of monetary
and other penalties to be imposed by the Authority in respect of any breaches
of a code of conduct by a licensee.
(9) The Authority
may, after affording the defaulting licensee a reasonable opportunity
to be heard, impose a prescribed monetary penalty upon a licensee who
commits any breach of a code of conduct, and a failure to pay such a penalty
may be a ground for the cancellation of the licence concerned.
(10) The amount
of any penalty paid in terms of subsection (9) shall form part of
the funds of the Authority.
25 Minister
may require Authority to determine programme standards in certain cases
TOP
(1) If—
(a) the Minister
is satisfied that there is convincing evidence that a code of conduct
developed or published in terms of section 24 is not operating
to provide appropriate community safeguards in respect of any matter
referred to in subsection (2) or (3) of that section; and
(b) the Minister
is satisfied that the authority should determine a standard in relation
to that matter;
the Minister shall
write to the Authority, directing it to vary or revoke any standard in
relation to that matter.
(2) If the Authority
determines or varies or revokes a standard, the Authority must publish
in the Gazette a notice stating—
(a) that the
standard has been determined, varied or revoked; and
(b) the places
where copies of the standard or of the variation or revocation can be
purchased.
(3) Subsections (8),
(9) and (10) of section 24 shall apply mutatis mutandis to
any breaches of a standard.
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