Provision, protection or participation? Approaches to regulating children’s television in Arab countries

Abstract

Free-to-air channels for Arabic-speaking children expanded alongside the emergence of a few Arab national regulatory agencies with varying degrees of independence from government and powers that could potentially influence children’s channels. Even so, the rationales that inform production and acquisition of children’s screen content in the region remain far from transparent, beyond rhetoric about protecting children from material that ‘breaches cultural boundaries and values’. Drawing on theoretical literature that highlights regulation’s effect on policy, and links the principles of provision, protection and participation in relation to children’s media, this article compares regulatory discourses and practices revealed in the documents and speeches of Arab regulators, broadcasters and independent production companies. It finds that, with some exceptions, only the latter advocate measures that look beyond a narrow interpretation of ‘protection’. A dominant consensus around the narrow vision seems to stand in the way of developing more stimulating approaches to regulation.