From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
AG-panned bill giving government control of TV viewership data advances in Knesset
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
A bill granting the government oversight of television viewership data passes a preliminary reading 53-49 in the Knesset plenum, two days after receiving backing from the Ministerial Committee for Legislation.
The legislation, sponsored by Likud MK Shalom Danino, would allow the communications minister to assume control of the currently independent organization that supplies publishers with this information.
It aims to establish “a framework” for measuring TV broadcast viewing figures and force the various broadcasters to report this data to the agency, including viewers’ age, gender and place of residence.
It would also compel networks to display their peak-hour viewing figures.
To become law, the bill still needs to pass through a committee and three additional votes in the plenum.
After the Ministerial Committee for Legislation backed the bill on Monday, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara issued a position paper asserting that it would violate key constitutional principles, including the right to privacy and freedom of the press.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi dismissed the attorney general’s criticism, saying that the bill would be amended to protect viewer privacy. He also said it was the government, not Baharav-Miara, that would establish the core principles of the legislation.
“What we want in this proposal is to reveal viewing data to the public through content providers,” states Karhi on Wednesday. “There are unacceptable things in this proposal and we will correct them in the committee. It will undergo adjustments in accordance with the broadcasting law. Only those who have something to hide are afraid of the true data.”
The bill is seen by some critics as designed to benefit the commercial interests of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s favored Channel 14. Mainstream broadcasters are ostensibly concerned that the government-designated agency for determining viewer ratings could slant the data toward pro-government outlets, thereby unjustifiably increasing their income and influence.
