Facebook, Instagram and Disney+ lower streaming quality in Europe to reduce bandwidth usage

As more and more people are either working from home or just looking for at-home entertainment, Europe's Internet infrastructure is buckling. So, the EU is calling on video streaming providers to reduce bandwidth usage and Facebook and Disney+ are the latest to respond.

This will affect the video quality on Facebook as well as Instagram (which is owned by the social networking giant). This comes after Netflix and YouTube reduced the streaming quality on the Old Continent, as did Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.

Disney is taking measures too by delaying the launch of its new service in France (at the request of the French government). Disney+ will launch in the UK and other markets on schedule (tomorrow, March 24), but will start off with lower video quality. Bandwidth usage will be decreased by "at least 25%" for all new European markets (which also includes Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland).

EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton says that the extra bandwidth is needed for healthcare uses as well as distance learning (schools are closed down and classes have moved online). These measures will last as long as there is worry about there's worry about overloading the infrastructure.

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