World's largest broadcasters push for EU regulations on smart TV assistants 

The letter argues that big tech companies have growing control over the operating systems of smart TVs and voice assistants. File picture

The world’s largest broadcasters have pushed for the EU to enforce its toughest regulations against virtual TVs and smart assistants built by Google, Amazon, Apple, and Samsung.

The call came in a letter from the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT).

The association's members include the likes of ITV, Paramount+, NBCUniversal, Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Sky, Canal+, RTL, Mediaset, and TF1 Groupe.

The letter argues that big tech companies have growing control over the operating systems of smart TVs and voice assistants.

They say this allows them to act as “gatekeepers” funnelling users towards some content and away from others.

Services such as Amazon’s Fire TV and Google TV have recommendation systems, as well as search functions.

It is argued that they may prioritise some content over others. 

These systems, built into many smart TVs, stand to shape how millions of users consume television.

“A limited number of operators are therefore gaining growing ability to shape outcomes for millions of users and businesses by controlling access to audiences and content distribution,” ACT wrote in a letter to the EU’s antitrust chief, Teresa Ribera according to a report by Reuters.

“It is crucial that the commission designate major TV operating systems ​as gatekeepers and ensure adequate oversight to guarantee fairness and contestability,” the broadcasters said.

Google, Amazon, Apple and Samsung have been approached for comment.

US tech companies

ACT’s letter comes amid heightened tension between European authorities and Donald Trump’s administration over the regulation of US tech companies, which has led to a series of tussles over how these firms operate in Europe.

Brussels is reportedly preparing to intensify enforcement of its key anti-competition rules, and the Trump administration has said this is “discriminatory” against US companies.

In early February, the EU threatened action against Meta for blocking rival AI chatbots from using its WhatsApp business platform, saying it was abusing its dominant market position. 

Meta said there was no reason for the EU to intervene and that it was not a key distribution channel for AI chatbots.

Ribera said on Monday that a decision was soon to come on whether Google’s search engine is breaking the EU’s Digital Markets Act, an investigation that has been ongoing since 2024.

In December the US imposed sanctions on the former European commissioner Thierry Breton as well as four other European “activists”, accusing them of censorship and “suppress[ing] American viewpoints”. 

The move was widely seen as an escalation in response to European regulation of US tech platforms.

Breton is challenging the sanctions and the commission has announced it will back him.

• Guardian.