KRRiT - Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji

Minors protection

Basic definitions

Minors – persons under 18 years of age.

Protected time – from 6:00 – 23:00;

Distribution of shows or other transmissions threatening the physical, psychological or moral development of juveniles, including in particular pornographic contents or contents displaying unnecessary violence, shall be prohibited.

During the protected time it is prohibited to broadcast shows or other transmissions containing scenes or contents which may have an adverse impact on physical, psychological or moral development of minors.
Television broadcasters are obliged to label their shows or other transmissions that are allowed for viewers over 18 years of age, throughout the airing time, with the following graphic symbols:

Radio broadcasters are obliged to broadcast a verbal announcement before the show or any other transmission that is allowed for listeners over 18 years of age, to inform about its qualification to this category.

Television broadcasters are obliged to label their shows or other transmissions aired during the protected time (6:00 – 23:00), throughout the airing time, with a graphic symbol relevant for the specific age category and considering the on-air hours of a specific show or transmission:

Radio broadcasters are obliged to label shows or other transmissions broadcast during the protected time (from 6:00 – 23:00) with a verbal announcement stating the minors’ permitted age category to which they are addressed.

Important information

No labelling is necessary for news services, advertisements, telesales, sport transmissions and speech-to text;

Previews i.e. trailers of shows or other transmissions, which also feature their contents, should be labelled in the same manner as the show or transmission itself;

Radio and television broadcasters, upon providing a current programme guide to the mass media, are obliged to include a graphic symbol to indicate the qualification of the show or other transmission (for audiences from a specific age category);

Regulations protecting minors are provided in Art. 18 sections 4-5b of the Act on radio and television broadcasting, while the qualification of shows or other transmissions is provided in the KRRiT’s Regulation dated 23 June 2005.

Samples of the graphic symbols for television broadcasters and samples of the announcements for radio broadcasters, indicating who the show or other transmission is addressed to, are provided in the Regulation of 12 July 2011 (containing Appendix 1 and Appendix 2).

The characteristic features of the individual age categories and the description of shows or other transmissions from the point of view of the four elements that are essential for the minor development, i.e. the presented world vision, moral evaluation, provoked emotions and role models, are included in Appendix 3to the Regulation.

The National Broadcasting Council regularly controls television and radio programmes for the observance by broadcasters of the minor protection regulations. All kinds of monitoring procedures are in place to verify the observance by broadcasters of two major rules of the minors protection under the law: the protected time and the correct qualification of shows to the particular categories.

Document compilations

Results of the KRRiT’s efforts involving control of television and radio programmes in terms of the broadcasters’ observance of the minors protection regulations are available here>>>

Useful links

·       Children’s Ombudsman http://www.brpd.gov.pl

·       Ombudsman for Citizens’ Rights http://www.rpo.gov.pl