France: Drafted Arcom order on Conditions of Appropriate Visibility of Services of General Interest

On 8 February 2024, the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom) published a draft order on the conditions of appropriate visibility of services of general interest. The order states that accessing services of general interest must not be more cumbersome than accessing other services, including audiovisual communication. Additionally, services of general interest must be prominently placed within user interfaces, search results, and recommendations, treated fairly alongside other programs, and clearly identified by their publisher. The order further mandates operators to report measures taken to ensure visibility of such services annually to the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority. The obligation is in accordance with Article 20-7 of the law of 30 September 1986, which provides that services of general interest are understood as services published by specific organisations and by the TV5 channel for the exercise of their public service missions. The draft order was sent to the European Commission, which will have three months to examine them.