Source : The Times Online

TESSA JOWELL, the Culture Secretary, said yesterday that a European Union plan to introduce internet regulation was unwelcome, arguing that new media were best left to govern themselves.

The Minister, speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, also came close to warning Ofcom, the communications regulator, about the consequences of introducing product placement in television programmes — but changed her mind in a late redraft of her address.

“If we want further regulation,” Ms Jowell said, “then I believe that the best approach is to rely as far as possible on self-regulation.” She said that existing EU proposals in a draft directive were “as a whole . . . still unacceptable”.

The European Union is trying to overhaul the 1989 Television Without Frontiers directive, which sets out a baseline for broadcast regulation across Europe.

Although Brussels insists it is producing a light-touch approach, it still wants to introduce new rules on the protection of children and the incitement to hatred.

It is the first time that the Culture Secretary has taken a position on the subject, although her stance is in line with a speech made by Lord Currie of Marylebone, the chairman of Ofcom, in Liverpool last autumn. He argued that ordinary criminal law was a sufficient way to regulate the internet.

However, while Ms Jowell was willing to support Ofcom on this issue, there were signs of ministerial concern over the ending of the ban on paid-for product placement in television programmes.

Ofcom launched a consultation on this issue before Christmas, after the EU signalled that it would relax the rules in the draft Television Without Frontiers directive.

In a draft of her speech Mrs Jowell gave warning that, if not properly regulated, product placement had “real risks of adverse effects on viewers”. Her “personal view” was that viewers had been “well-served by a broadcasting model that puts programmes first”.

The Department of Culture retains reserve powers on the regulation of advertising. In theory, it could intervene if the Culture Secretary believed that Ofcom was allowing too liberal an approach.

The cautious remarks on product placement were cut out minutes before the speech was delivered, after the Minister concluded that such an intervention was inappropriate at this point.

All Ms Jowell told the delegates was: “This is an important issue and I welcome Ofcom’s decision to consult upon it.”

© The Times Online