With the increasing pervasiveness of commercial content across media platforms, safeguarding minors from harmful advertising has become an urgent concern.

In this context, models of self-regulation and co-regulation offer a promising path forward—allowing media stakeholders, advertisers, and regulators to work collaboratively in ensuring ethical and accountable practices. These models are particularly vital for safeguarding children, who are highly susceptible to the persuasive techniques of modern advertising, especially when it concerns food and beverage marketing.

Against this backdrop, the Council of Europe and the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM), hosted a roundtable to initiate dialogue on the potential for co-regulation in the field of commercial communications, with a strong focus on the protection of minors. The event brought together representatives from public service and commercial media, the Ministry of Information, as well as key advertising industry stakeholders.

Discussions explored the legal and institutional framework in Serbia and its alignment with the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), particularly regarding rules on advertising products high in fat, trans-fatty acids, salt/sodium, or sugar during or around children’s programming.

Presenters from REM detailed the most frequent violations of advertising laws and shared insights on enforcement practices and protection measures for minors in commercial content. 

Participants identified clear opportunities for strengthening co-regulation in Serbia through structured dialogue, increased transparency, and cooperation between regulators and the media industry.

With advertising everywhere - from TV and social media to streaming platforms - co-regulation offers a way to ensure responsible marketing while keeping children safe from misleading or harmful content.

The event was organised under the action “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in Serbia (PROFREX)”, implemented by the Division for Co-operation on Freedom of Expression, under the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye.