Telecom Law Could Ban iPhone and Ferrari Ads from Streaming: What’s at Stake?

The law will significantly alter the advertising model on streaming platforms.

For instance, data from Netflix highlight that as of May this year, 94 million users subscribe to an ad-supported plan. Commercial insertion is crucial for streaming, so much so that Netflix is preparing to launch Netflix Ads Suite in Mexico, a proprietary advertising platform operated in the United States and Canada.

The new policy would also impact ViX, the TelevisaUnivision platform. For this company, the broadcast of government advertising has become a significant driver of its business. In just the third quarter of 2024, the company reported revenues of 483 million dollars, a 5% increase year over year, primarily driven by this type of advertising.

Gabriel Richaud, general director of IAB Mexico (Interactive Advertising Bureau), stated that although the head of DTTA highlighted that tourist, cultural, and sports advertising would be exempt from Article 210, more is needed to ensure legal certainty for companies.

“A contrary approach should be adopted, it should be clearly defined what is intended to be restricted. Adding increasingly extensive lists of exceptions can lead to ambiguity and discretion in interpretation. The clearest and most effective way is to define specific cases of restriction,” said Richaud, who participated in one of the Senate discussions on the Telecommunications Law.

Claudia Benassini, a specialist in restricted television and digital platforms and a researcher at La Salle University, considered that this article could be seen as a form of protection against national interests.

“Globality is being broken. Perhaps this might come from an agreement with businessmen, but it is a reality that products directly competing with local ones are being advertised,” said the specialist.

According to Radamés Camargo, analyst at The Ciu consultancy, the article aims to protect national interests, thus it is appropriate to curb advertising or campaigns that compromise users.

The new policy was framed after a political ad from Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, was broadcast on open and paid television signals, where she openly expressed the anti-immigrant policy of President Donald Trump, warning people who immigrate illegally to her country that they will be hunted and deported.

“It seems that an effort is being made to prevent a situation like ViX’s in Mexico from happening again,” he said.

Expansión reached out to streaming platforms for comments on this issue, but they did not provide any responses.

On the other hand, the Digital Transformation Agency told Expansión that it will not make comments for now as discussions on the Telecommunications Law are still ongoing and changes to the ruling could occur.