In its sitting early Tuesday morning, the knesset plenum voted to approve in first reading the Communications Bill (Broadcasts), 2025. In the vote, 54 Members of Knesset supported the bill, versus 47 opposing votes, and it will be turned over to the House Committee to determine the committee in which the bill will be deliberated.
The bill includes a comprehensive reform in the field of regulation of broadcasts. First, it is proposed to form a new, single regulatory authority that will replace the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council and the Second Authority for Television and Radio, and will regulate the provision of visual and audio content uniformly vis-à-vis all broadcasting platforms.
It is proposed that the new authority that will be formed will be authorized to supervise the competition in the market of provision of visual and audio content, and to take action to prevent behaviors that could harm competition in the industry. Second, it is proposed to replace the licensing requirement that currently applies to the broadcasting organizations with the requirement to register in a registry, and to reduce the regulatory requirements applying to these organizations (registered content providers).
It is further proposed to require registered content providers to draw up and publish a code of ethics in accordance with principles that will be laid out in the law, along with reducing direct regulatory intervention in the content. Additionally, it is proposed to regulate the distribution of news content, to establish a special registration requirement for new channels and to require content providers who enter into agreements with subscribers to broadcast the news free of charge.
In addition, it is proposed to require registered content providers who enter into agreements with subscribers to distribute the content of the israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) and the knesset Channel. It is further proposed to establish arrangements that will ensure high accessibility for the public to sports content of significant demand or national or cultural importance, among other things by prevention of behaviors that harm competition.
It is also proposed to require registered content providers to invest in local content productions, and to impose a similar requirement upon large international content providers operating in Israel, with the aim of preserving the development of Israeli creative art and to ensure diverse Israeli content for the public.
The explanatory notes to the bill state: “The market of broadcasting visual and audio content to the general public (‘the broadcasting market’) is an industry with significant impact on the public discourse, culture, freedom of speech, commerce and the character of Israeli society and democracy. In recent years, significant changes have taken place in the market, particularly with regard to production and distribution of this content to the public. The following bill is based on insights brought by the committees over the years, and it is designed to amend the legislation and update the set of obligations and rights applying to all actors operating in the visual and audio content field.”
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