In an exclusive interview with Channel 4 News tonight (January, 7th) Chief Executive of Ofcom, Dame Melanie Dawes, has said there would be “real value” in the media and telecoms watchdog regulating Netflix.
Her comments come as the streaming service is under fire for screening a Jimmy Carr special in which the comedian made a joke about the Holocaust.
Asked about the controversy by presenter Cathy Newman and if Ofcom should regulate Netflix, Dame Melanie replied:
“I can certainly see that there’ll be real value in that. Yes. And so, we would welcome any chance to work on that. I can really understand why a lot of people found that very offensive and as you say, we don’t regulate Netflix at the moment, they’re underneath the Dutch regulator.
“And I think that is a concern because it means that for viewers, it’s really confusing that they’ve got different standards applied, for example, to Channel 4 News than they have to YouTube and other services, including Netflix, that come streamed onto our TVs.”
In response to comments at the weekend from Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries, that Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, could in theory end up in jail if they don’t comply with new online safety laws, she said:
“Fear isn’t always what really makes a difference. I’d like to talk to Mark Zuckerberg, I haven’t met him. It’d be good to hear from him about what he thinks about these issues. But you know, we’ll have to see what sort of penalties the government introduces in the bill.
“I want to make them accountable, really for the first time, and to increase transparency across the industry. So that the public have got a much better sense of what’s going on and how things are getting better.”
On the Joe Rogan/Spotify row Dame Melanie said:
“It’s really important that we do also factor in freedom of speech. So, we’re not going to be saying to any of the platforms, this is exactly the way to do it. What we’re going to be saying is, ‘You need to be clear what the rules are on your service, and you need to abide by those rules, and we will hold you to account for that’.”
On Public Service Broadcasters and the BBC licence fee:
“We’re actually reviewing our regulation of the BBC and looking at that operating licence for the next five years, right now. And that’s particularly to make sure that as the BBC services switch to digital like everybody else’s, we’re up to date in the way that we regulate. There’s plenty that the BBC needs to do, and Ofcom has pointed out what they need to do, in terms of reaching more audiences, particularly thinking about young people.
“And that for me is the most important thing is, for them to be able to show their value to households up and down country. And that’s the way for them to be able to make a case for strong funding into the future.”
Channel 4 News tonight at 7 pm
