Smart TVs have entered the crosshairs of the world's major television stations, which are asking the EU to act
The world's biggest television and media companies have asked the European Union to apply its toughest regulations against smart TVs and smart assistants developed by Google, Amazon, Apple and Samsung, The Guardian reports.
The request came in a letter from the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT), whose members include Canal+, RTL, Mediaset, ITV, Paramount+, NBCUniversal, Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Sky and TF1 Groupe.
The letter claims that big tech companies have increasing control over the operating systems of smart TVs and voice assistants, which gives them undue and disproportionate powers, directing users to certain types of content and away from others.
Services like Amazon's Fire TV and Google TV have recommendation systems as well as search functions that can prioritize certain content over others. These systems, integrated into many smart TVs, have the potential to shape the way millions of users consume television, according to the source cited.
“A limited number of operators thus gain an increasing ability to influence outcomes for millions of users and companies by controlling access to audiences and distribution of content,” ACT wrote in a letter to Teresa Ribera, the head of EU antitrust policy, according to Reuters.
“It is essential that the Commission designates the main TV operating systems as 'gatekeepers' and provides adequate oversight to ensure market fairness and competitiveness,” the broadcasters said.
Growing tensions in the EU over the regulation of US tech companies
ACT's letter comes amid heightened tensions between European authorities and Donald Trump's administration over the regulation of US tech companies, tensions that have led to a series of disputes over how those firms operate in Europe.
The Trump administration has repeatedly said that EU regulations are “discriminatory” against American tech companies and in some cases has accused European authorities of “censoring” some American citizens. These allegations mainly concerned measures taken at the EU level against US social media platforms such as Facebook, “X” and others.
Ribera said on Monday that a decision would be announced soon on the investigation launched in 2024 into Google's search engine, which is looking into whether it is in breach of the EU's Digital Markets Act.
In December, the US imposed sanctions on former European Commissioner Thierry Breton, as well as four other European “activists”, accusing them of censorship and “suppressing American viewpoints”. The move was widely seen as an escalation in response to European regulations for US technology platforms.
Breton contested the sanctions, and the Commission announced it would support him.
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