Netflix has threatened to delete films and TV episodes from its UK catalogue in advance to avoid violating new British government laws.
Ministers in the United Kingdom are pressing for Ofcom, the media watchdog, to be empowered to control streaming services in the same manner that it does traditional broadcasters.
According to the Media Bill, major streamers must evaluate impartiality in the context of current events, citing ‘current public policy’ and ‘political or industrial dispute’ as examples.
If streaming services like Netflix or Prime Video violate the proposed legislation, they might face fines of up to £250,000 for engaging in damaging competition.
However, in a submission to the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media, and Sport Committee, Netflix stated that it was opposed to the proposals to implement ‘due impartiality’ regulations, calling the draught law ‘nebulous’ and possibly ‘onerous’ for services to enforce, according to Deadline.
To stay on the right side of the new legislation, Netflix claimed it will have to keep its massive portfolio of material under constant inspection, ensuring that it is ‘purging titles on a regular basis’ regardless of when a programme or film launched.
‘The range and variety of Netflix’s content, generally considered a strength of our offering in terms of maximising choice for British viewers, could equally become a potential source of risk from a compliance perspective if it fell within Ofcom’s remit,’ it said.
‘Without considerably greater clarity around the scope and application of these provisions, it would inevitably be easier to remove content pre-emptively from our UK catalogue than risk an onerous compliance burden and potential liability.’
Netflix’s five-page letter to the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee resembled wording used by Benjamin King, the streaming service’s head of policy in the UK, last month.
He stated that the limitations might have a ‘chilling’ effect on the company’s willingness to make films available to British consumers.
Netflix said that the legislative plans might lead to “complaint tourism,” in which individuals from outside the nation file complaints with Ofcom.
It further stated that the regulation of streaming services should be addressed differently than that of traditional broadcasters since consumers made deliberate decisions to watch Netflix material, whereas individuals may unintentionally stumble upon potentially damaging programming on television.
The concerns expressed by Netflix were mirrored by Disney, which stated that the audience protection measures implemented on Disney Plus, such as age ratings, meant that blanket streaming regulation was not proportional.
According to Ofcom, Netflix is the most popular streaming service in the UK, with 17 million customers.
Following that are Prime Video and Disney Plus.
Previously, a representative for the UK’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport told Deadline that the law will ‘ensure VoD providers are held to comparable high standards’ as broadcasters.
Parliament has given Ofcom the authority to enforce the standards outlined in its Broadcasting Code, which applies to TV channels and radio stations and addresses issues such as hate speech, abusive language, and commercial placement.
It allows viewers to protest to the regulator if they are dissatisfied with what they have seen or heard, making shows and their broadcasters responsible for fines if they are found to have violated the Code.
The Commissariaat voor de Media, the Dutch media regulator, now regulates Netflix throughout Europe.
Source My Celebrity Life.