Netflix and Other Streaming Services Face Potential ‘Harmful Content’ Regulation in UK
thewrap.comi news on Wednesday in which she wrote, “The competition for eyeballs is fiercer than ever – and we’ve got to ensure British broadcasters can hold their own in this fight.”She notes that the rise of “American streaming giants” over the last year has left linear channels such as the BBC and ITV with 20% less viewers.
Her office has published a broadcasting white paper that would impose content regulations on U.S. streaming platforms for the first time.“First, it’s only fair that British public service broadcasters – the BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C – are given a level playing field with their American competitors.
So we’re proposing a new Video-on-Demand Code that will hold Disney+, Netflix and the like to similar standards as traditional broadcasters, particularly when it comes to protecting audiences from harmful material,” Dorries wrote in her guest column.Currently, U.K.
regulator Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code has minimal oversight over Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video and doesn’t regulate Netflix and Apple TV+ at all, according to Deadline.
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