Satra will address illegal advertising practices in home streaming networks
The Deputy of Market Regulation and Business Development at Satra provided explanations regarding advertising methods in the home streaming sector and users’ criticism of some platforms’ behavior in broadcasting short advertisements during series and programs.
Recently, some users of home streaming networks have criticized the behavior of certain platforms and streaming services in VODs for broadcasting a few-second advertisement during the airing of home and online series and programs, raising complaints against the platforms and Satra as the regulatory body in this domain.
This is because it has been observed recently that the volume of advertisements on some Iranian platforms producing films and series has increased. Even financial sponsors use billboards featuring characters from series and programs for advertising, which is a form of instrumental use. Besides this, in recent weeks, platforms have moved from placing ads at the beginning of shows, which was also criticized by viewers, to adding ads during the programs.
Khalatbari pointed out that in Iran, advertising is used as one of the main revenue models and noted that during the drafting of Satra’s commercial communications guidelines, efforts were made to not only protect users’ rights when using services but also to consider the media businesses. Therefore, there is no restriction on advertising in subscription-based media. This practice is also common in global media, where some media show advertisements to users despite receiving a subscription fee. What is prohibited in Satra’s commercial communications guidelines is advertising in premium services, for which a specific definition has been considered.
Unfortunately, in a very limited number of platforms, this guideline is not followed, and out of respect for users’ rights, all mentioned cases will be pursued by Satra’s violations committee. In some cases, these violations even led to the suspension of the payment gateway for some home streaming media, but this was resolved when the mentioned media complied with the law and rectified the violation. Therefore, we also request that respectful users report any breaches of user rights to the Sapra system.
