The World Broadcasting Unions (WBU), led by the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), the EBU and other international broadcasting stakeholders, have launched a joint action plan to tackle deliberate and accidental satellite jamming, after talks on the worsening problem in Tunis earlier this month.

Published on Wednesday (23 October) by ASBU, the conference host, the action plan calls for intensified international efforts to clamp down on satellite signal interference, a practice that has surged in recent years, notably in the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf.

Actions recommended include broad public campaigns to show that deliberate jamming, while harmful, fails to stop the free flow of information since broadcasters and operators find workarounds and alternative means of delivery.

The signatories have also agreed to improve uplink engineer training to prevent unintended “double illumination” – when two signals overlap and scramble one another. And they will step up efforts to encourage International Telecommunication Union (ITU) members to introduce new regulation to identify, outlaw and penalize intentional interference.

The EBU believes that deliberate satellite jamming is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

In 2012, ITU member states approved a revision of the regulations to give to the RRB (Radio Regulations Board of ITU) greater powers to identify and stigmatize deliberate satellite scrambling, after the EBU and others called for tougher action.

The action plan emerged from a symposium on satellite interference and jamming on 6 to 7 October in Tunis, which was hosted by ASBU. It was attended by an array of international actors, including the EBU; the ITU; the World Broadcasting Unions’ International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG); as well as most of the world’s satellite operators (Arabsat, Eutelsat, Intelsat, SES-Asiasat, etc.), regulators and broadcasters.