Malta
National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-07
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Malta's principal age-related duty binds a video-sharing platform provider. The Broadcasting (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act No. LVI of 2020), transposing the revised EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Directive (EU) 2018/1808), inserted Articles 16R and 16S into the Broadcasting Act, Cap. 350.
Article 16S requires a video-sharing platform provider under Maltese jurisdiction to take the necessary measures to protect minors from programmes, user-generated videos and audiovisual commercial communications that may impair their physical, mental or moral development, including the establishment and operation of age-verification systems for users in relation to such content and of parental-control systems under the end-user's control; the Broadcasting Authority is charged with ensuring providers under its jurisdiction apply those measures.
Malta has no dedicated social-media minor-access restriction, app-store age-verification requirement, or age-appropriate design code distinct from this video-sharing platform duty as of the date below.
01
Instruments on record
Broadcasting Act, Cap. 350, Arts. 16R-16S (Video-Sharing Platform Minor-Protection Duties)
In force
Broadcasting Act, Cap. 350, arts. 16R-16S, inserted by the Broadcasting (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act No. LVI of 2020)
Applies to private
Article 16S requires a video-sharing platform provider under the jurisdiction of Malta to take the necessary measures to protect minors from programmes, user-generated videos and audiovisual commercial communications which may impair their physical, mental or moral development. Those measures include establishing and operating age verification systems for users of video-sharing platforms with respect to such content.
They also include providing for parental control systems that are under the control of the end-user with respect to such content. Personal data of minors collected or otherwise generated through those age-verification or parental-control measures may not be processed for commercial purposes such as direct marketing, profiling and behaviourally targeted advertising. The Broadcasting Authority ensures that all video-sharing platform providers under its jurisdiction apply such measures.
The Act was passed by the House of Representatives on 2 December 2020. It received presidential assent on 7 December 2020, and no separate commencement notice fixing a later day has been located.
| Enforcement body | Broadcasting Authority (Malta) |
Source: Full text of law