TPA Slams Hostile Foreign Regulations Against American Streaming Companies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kara Zupkus (224)-456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Foreign governments from various regions around the world are increasingly passing hostile regulations against media streaming companies, in an attempt to force these companies to subsidize their local entertainment industries. With most of the industry market leaders being American companies, these regulations are clumsily funneling money out of the American economy to fund foreign cultural and entertainment industries.

As more countries continue to pass these laws with little to no pushback, the American streaming industry is starting to feel the burden of an array of minimum investment requirements and content quotas. President Trump is rightly pushing back against the latest proposal out of Australia that unduly targets American businesses.

David Williams, TPA President, offered the following comment:

“Foreign governments have witnessed the success of American streaming companies and have foolishly decided to use them as their cash cow. We are seeing a worrisome increase in laws and proposals that would force these businesses to either invest in local productions or be subjected to a content quota of spuriously defined ‘local content’ as a way to extract these companies’ hard-earned money.

“Proposals such as the one being advanced in Australia harm local productions rather than help them. Content quotas make locally produced content harder to export because the content counts as a foreign production for the rest of the world. As a result, these policies limit the potential distribution of these productions outside of home countries. These misguided laws also make streaming services less appealing for local consumers, as providers will likely have to cut foreign content and limit their catalogue in order to fulfill these quotas.

“The proposal brought forward by Australian legislators is reckless to say the least, and the Trump administration should continue to oppose it. A proactive defense of American businesses by the U.S. government may be the only thing stopping otherwise-unchecked governments from bullying American businesses.” 

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.