Coimisiún na Meán is poised to issue an update on the future of the broadcast moratorium after calls from broadcasters and the Electoral Commission for it to be scrapped.
The media regulator has been conducting a review of the moratorium and intends that the outcome will apply to the upcoming general election, to be held before the year end. The moratorium as it stands bans broadcast media from covering election or referendum campaign issues from 2pm on the day before polls open until the close of polls. It has been criticised for being ineffective, based on an outdated media landscape and potentially harmful in the age of online misinformation.
“Coimisiún na Meán is currently finalising a decision on the future of the broadcast moratorium. The result of that decision will be included in updated guidelines for broadcasters, and will apply to the next general election,” the regulator said.
Some 19 submissions were made to its recent public consultation on whether to retain, remove or amend the moratorium ahead of a September 4th deadline.
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In the wake of the family and care referendums earlier this year the Electoral Commission recommended that the moratorium should be removed because it has become “anomalous and open to potential exploitation”.
Minister for Local Government Darragh O’Brien also wrote to Coimisiún na Meán in May to warn that moratoriums heighten the risk of electoral interference from both foreign and domestic sources as any targeted social media misinformation campaign in the hours before and during polling could “only be met with silence from the broadcast media”.
While one of the options being considered by the regulator is replacing the moratorium with an obligation “to exercise particular care” in the lead-up to a vote, RTÉ is among the broadcasters to have called for its full abolition. It has told the regulator that it is “entirely anomalous” that RTÉ online news can report on a significant breaking story during the moratorium period but that RTÉ television and radio is barred from doing so.
A regulator-imposed moratorium was first introduced in the 1990s, and originally included the full day before polls opened. The intention was to ensure voters have the same news available to them as other voters, to limit the last-minute spread of information that is difficult to verify or evaluate, and to give voters space to reflect on their position.
Ahead of the 2011 general election it was shortened to start at 2pm the day before voting after objections from broadcasters, including TV3 – now Virgin Media Television – which argued that the rules had no legislative basis and underestimated the intelligence of its audience.
The regulator – which issues the moratorium guidance under its code of fairness, objectivity and impartiality – said the public consultation was just one element of its review.
Separately it has examined “electoral silence periods” in other jurisdictions, such as the UK, where guidance from communications regulator Ofcom states that discussion and analysis of campaign issues must cease on broadcast media once polls open.
In a survey of public attitudes conducted on behalf of Coimisiún na Meán by Ipsos B&A, 52 per cent of respondents said they did not believe the moratorium was effective, with 40 per cent saying it was.
Some 41 per cent thought that the moratorium should be kept as it is, while 23 per cent said there should be restrictions during polling hours only and 32 per cent thought that restrictions were unnecessary and should be removed.
The main reason why people said they thought the moratorium should be retained or abolished was the same, with both groups saying it made no difference to how people vote.
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