Key themes on EPRA's agenda: Protecting children online and evidence-based regulators
         

The 61st EPRA meeting is taking place on 15-16 May 2025 in Chișinău. This closed event, hosted by the Audiovisual Council of the Republic of Moldova, will gather about 130 delegates representing 48 member authorities, permanent observers and invited experts who will exchange on timely issues pertaining to media regulation in Europe. 

• Under the guidance of EPRA Chair Mari Velsand, the Agora session on the morning of 15th May will highlight key developments among EPRA members and permanent observer organisations. The Assembly will be invited to formally endorse the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications’ (BIPT) membership application.

• The Agora session will also provide an opportunity to hear from UNESCO’s Global Forum of Networks, and for a focus on key findings of the OSCE's Office of the Representative for Freedom of the Media on the development of a public interest framework. 

• Elections for the entire EPRA Executive Board (one Chairperson and up to four Vice-Chairpersons) are due to take place on 16th May.

Exploring the roles that media regulators can play in the changing media landscape will be at the core of the thematic sessions on, respectively, “Protecting children online” and "What makes an evidence-based regulator?".

• Thematic session 1 “Protecting children online”: Protecting and empowering minors has been a recurring subject in EPRA meetings, reflecting the importance of the topic as a major regulatory concern across all jurisdictions. The session will focus on the protection of children on video-sharing platforms and social media, looking at the range of available tools and approaches, and discussing how to balance the safety of children with an approach based on children’s rights.

• Thematic session 2 on “What makes an evidence-based regulator?”: Consultations for the 2025 EPRA Work Programme revealed strong interest among the membership to discuss internal governance processes. The session will first explore what it means to be evidence-based for a media regulator and why is it more important than ever before hearing insights from two regulators of different sizes, resources and context. EPRA members will then break out into roundtables to engage in discussions based on practical scenarios.

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EPRA provides an independent, agile and participatory forum that allows 55 audiovisual regulators in Europe (beyond the EU) to share information, best practices, experiences and expertise. EPRA does not take common positions but seeks to encourage independent, transparent and professional regulation and to raise awareness among its members of the consequences of the upheavals in the media ecosystem and to support them in the necessary evolution of media regulation practices.
 

• Agenda of the meeting

• Introduction to the speakers

Source: EPRA Secretariat