Netflix and YouTube are slowing down in Europe to keep internet from breaking

London CNN Business — Netflix and YouTube will reduce streaming quality in Europe for at least the next month to prevent the internet collapsing under the strain of unprecedented usage due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We estimate that this will reduce Netflix traffic on European networks by around 25% while also ensuring a good quality service for our members,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. A spokesperson for Google, which owns YouTube, said: “We will continue working with member state governments and network operators to minimize stress on the system, while also delivering a good user experience.” The changes follow appeals from EU officials for streaming services and individual users to ditch high definition video to prevent the internet from breaking. In a statement on Thursday Breton said that given the unprecedented situation, streaming platforms, telecom operators and users “all have a joint responsibility to take steps to ensure the smooth functioning of the internet during the battle against the virus propagation.” According to a 2019 report by American networking equipment company Sandvine, video accounts for over 60% of data delivered from internet providers to consumers, with Netflix accounting for just under 12% of total traffic. “At this stage, new traffic patterns are being effectively handled by engineers as per standard network operations,” Lise Fuhr, director general of the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association, said in a statement.