Plan to Control Smart TVs in Australia Likened to Orwell’s 1984

‘They’ve read some of Orwell’s books and taken them too literally,’ Coalition Senator Hollie Hughes said

A Smart TV Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

The Australian Government is planning to legislate a “prominence framework” to control what Australians watch on Smart TVs.

The plan would control which local television services can be easily found on television devices, such as free-to-air television channels ABC and SBS.

Under the proposal, the Smart TVs might show certain free-to-air channels ahead of apps personally chosen by consumers.

Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes, speaking to Sky News on Nov. 6, likened the prominence legislation to those found in George Orwell’s books. Orwell is famous for his novels “1984,” published in 1949, and “Animal Farm,” published in 1945.

“Next we’ll start seeing they’ll want a ministry of truth, I think they’ve read some of Orwell’s books and taken them too literally,” she said.

Control of Information

Ms. Hughes said this government was increasingly trying to “control the flow of information” and determine what people are allowed to listen to and watch.

The senator suggested the Labor and Greens parties are pushing people towards left-wing information.

Ms. Hughes said, “Because the ABC is so supportive of this left-wing agenda and so, of course, those political parties on the left—be it Labor, be it the Greens—want to push people towards that sort of information.

“I think this is really dangerous as we start to see things culminate together. It’s not just Smart TVs, it’s misinformation.”

The Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) Australia has launched a public campaign with the message, “Don’t let the government control your TV.”

“Don’t let the government tell you what to watch or limit your search results. You wouldn’t allow it on your phone. It’s your TV. It’s your living room. The choice should be yours,” ASTRA says.

YouGov research, commissioned by Foxtel, found the majority of Australian consumers want to control the TVs they own.

“When given the choice, 94 percent of Australians said they don’t want the government controlling the order and layout of the apps on their TV,” ASTRA said the research showed.

“One in two Australians with a smart TV don’t know how to change the layout and order of their apps.”

Legislation Could Be Introduced Soon

In a proposal paper (pdf) released in December 2022, the government said it has committed to legislating a prominence framework to “ensure local TV services are easy for Australian audiences to find on connected TV devices.”

The government said a legislated prominence framework would shape the way TV applications and content are presented to Australians.

“It would seek to ensure local TV services can be easily found on TV devices so that they can continue to contribute to Australia’s public and cultural life,” the government said.

The government opened a consultation on the prominence framework for connected television devices from Dec. 23, 2022, to Feb. 24, 2023.

The public submissions are now available and the website states the government is considering the issues and views provided in the submissions.

Google advocated for the government to respect the choices of consumers rather than “forcing particular choices.”

“User choice should be respected and promoted. The regulatory framework should focus on ways to offer opportunities to consumers that they may or may not take up—as opposed to forcing particular choices on consumers,” Google said (pdf).

The tech giant said any regulatory framework should not make it harder for users to find and consume the content they wish to watch.

“When a person searches for something, the results should be the best attempt at responding to that request—without any overlay of regulated prominence.”

Microsoft Xbox video games are displayed on a Samsung Electronics Co. Gaming Hub-enabled smart TV in Las Vegas, Nev., on Jan. 3, 2023. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman said the government hopes to be able to legislate “in the near future.”

“We recognise that there are always in these things, a range of different views, and that’s why we’ve gone through a very thorough consultation process to make sure that we hear all of those views and we land it in a way that is right for the Australian people,” he told Sky News.

Mr. Gorman said the legislation would be about prominence for Australian free-to-air networks.

“We are not taking anyone’s apps off these smart TVs, they come with gigabytes and gigabytes of memory now, you can put as many apps on as you like,” Mr. Gorman said.

“We‘d try to have some legislation that would mean it’s reasonably consistent across all of the different brands and manufacturers and I’d point out again this is about requirements on manufacturers.”

NSW Liberal Party President Jason Falinski said this is regulation looking for a problem.