Facebook Lowers Video Quality In Latin America, Following Europe

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Facebook will lower video streaming quality on its platform and on Instagram in Latin America, replicating measures adopted in Europe, to ease network congestion in a region that is starting to feel the grip of the coronavirus. On Sunday, the world's largest social network followed the steps of Netflix, Alphabet's YouTube, Amazon and Walt Disney in response to a call by the European Union to stave off internet gridlock as thousands of people work from home due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Brazilian streaming platform GloboPlay, owned by the country's largest TV channel, announced that video streaming in 4K and Full High Definition would be temporarily suspended as of Monday to preserve Brazil's internet infrastructure and allow more people to access its contents. Asked about future plans to lower streaming quality in Brazil, like it did in Europe, Netflix said it "will continue to work with internet service providers and governments all over the world and will apply these changes in other places if necessary." Local telecoms regulator Anatel has signed a commitment pact with carriers and other providers to keep Brazilians connected during the coronavirus outbreak, creating a crisis committee to coordinate actions and monitor data traffic and the network capacity.

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