Swiss voters approved this Sunday (15), in referendums, three new laws, including the one that obliges streaming platforms to invest in national audiovisual.
According to the final results, 58.42% voted in favor of the proposal known as the “Netflix Law”. In the other two votes, 71.48% were in favor of expanding the country’s participation in the financing of Frontex (European border agency) and 60.20% approved the principle of supposed consent in organ donation.
The majority of the population voted by mail in the three to four weeks before the referendums.
The modification of the audiovisual law, the Netflix Act, will oblige streaming platforms, including Amazon and Disney, to invest 4% of their turnover in Switzerland in national content, participating in productions or paying a fee that will be reversed in support to the audiovisual.
“This result highlights the cultural importance of Swiss film production,” Swiss Interior Minister Alain Berset told a news conference on Sunday.
Since 2007, the country’s television stations were already obliged to invest 4% of their turnover in Swiss film production.
This obligation will now also apply to foreign networks displaying Swiss-specific advertisements.
With the reform, the Swiss film industry expects to get about an additional 18 million francs a year, according to the Federal Department of Culture. In addition, the proposal provides that streaming platforms will be required to offer 30% European content, as is already the case in the European Union.
With Reuters
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