EU video-sharing platform rules

1.Current status and review record

kookey’s public website currently hosts no user-uploaded videos. The planned hosted product may include public videos, feeds, stories, and shared rooms. Its classification under video-sharing rules and the relevant Member State jurisdiction have not been confirmed yet. We’ll share the outcome of the legal review before public video sharing launches. Before public video sharing launches, the operator will record the product facts assessed, legal reviewer, date, regulator, and conclusion.

2.Why this law matters to kookey

The Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) can cover a video-sharing platform where the principal purpose, a separable section, or an essential function is making user-generated videos available to the general public for information, entertainment, or education, and the provider organizes them without editorial responsibility. kookey is planned to include public videos, feeds, stories, rooms, and discovery. Whether video-sharing-platform rules apply will depend on the final product and its operator.

Source: Directive 2010/13/EU — Audiovisual Media Services (EUR-Lex) (European Union)

Source: European Commission — Guidelines for identifying video-sharing platforms (European Union)

3.Jurisdiction and regulator

The AVMSD applies through the Member State with jurisdiction under its establishment criteria. kookey’s operator identity, location, corporate structure, establishment, and EU presence have not been confirmed, so no jurisdiction conclusion is made here. The DSA, GDPR, copyright, and consumer rules have separate territorial tests that must be assessed against the real service and operator before launch.

4.Protection measures

If kookey is a video-sharing-platform service in a Member State, AVMSD Article 28b requires appropriate measures to protect minors from harmful content and the public from specified illegal content, including incitement to violence or hatred and certain criminal material. Measures can include terms, flagging and rating tools, complaints, age verification or parental controls where appropriate, and transparent user controls. The regulator assesses the measures in light of the service’s nature, potential harm, and user rights.

5.Commercial communications

The platform must provide ways to label or declare audiovisual commercial communications in user-uploaded videos and apply the applicable restrictions to advertising, sponsorship, and product placement. Commercial communications must not exploit minors’ inexperience, encourage harmful behavior, or use prohibited discriminatory content. The service will distinguish platform advertising from sponsorship or advertising included by a host in a room.

6.Measures, records, and user tools

Before the service enables public video uploads, the operator will decide which age controls, content-rating options, report categories, complaints, and user disclosures are required for its classification. Users will receive clear explanations of restrictions and a way to flag harmful material. The provider will keep records of its decisions and safeguards for accountability and regulatory inquiries.

7.User complaint route

No in-product video report, complaint, or appeal control is available on the current website. If the hosted service is subject to AVMSD requirements, its operator will publish the applicable report and complaint steps, how a person receives an outcome, and which regulator or other route is available for unresolved concerns. The operator’s identity and Member State are not confirmed, so no regulator is identified as currently responsible for kookey.

8.Commercial communication disclosures

A final product review will determine how hosts identify sponsorship, product placement, or other audiovisual commercial communication in a room, and how viewers see that declaration. The operator will document the controls and review route that apply to the actual release. The public website has no host upload or advertising declaration feature, and no such control is claimed here.

9.Review history

The legal classification has not been assessed to completion. The review owner, jurisdiction conclusion, and review date are not available yet. We’ll share them when confirmed. Reassess when the operator, service features, audience, or Member State establishment changes.