🕵️‍♂️ Russian Streaming Platforms to Face Quality Audit Under New Criteria

Experts will evaluate the platforms across a broad matrix of metrics, including pricing models, interface usability, subscription transparency, and the availability of proprietary content (originals), according to Maxim Protasov, the head of the organization. The audit is scheduled for completion, with results to be presented, by this autumn.

The agency last conducted a detailed study of this market in 2021, when mobile applications were evaluated against 168 criteria. Roskachestvo attributes the necessity of a new review to the rapid lifecycle of digital product updates. Re-evaluating the market every four to five years provides an objective benchmark of the industry’s baseline and tracks how platforms are shifting their approaches to quality and security.

Furthermore, the agency is responding to direct consumer demand. Recently, there has been a surge in user complaints regarding difficulties with cancelling subscriptions, convoluted tariff models, and personal data processing practices.

“At this stage, we do not intend to evaluate content substance; the study is strictly focused on the technical and legal dimensions of the services’ operations,” the Roskachestvo press service emphasized.

While the exact list of research parameters is still being finalized, Roskachestvo highlighted three core assessment pillars:

• Legal Compliance: Testing for strict adherence to the federal law “On Personal Data” (FZ-152).
• Functional Capabilities: Comparing the usability, performance, and reliability of mobile and desktop versions.
• Subscription Models: Evaluating the transparency of terms, the adequacy of user notification regarding recurring billing, and the ability to quickly and easily cancel a subscription.

The study aims to encompass all popular legal online cinemas operating in Russia. To ensure maximum objectivity for the audit, Roskachestvo is forming a dedicated expert advisory board. This board will include representatives from major streaming services alongside specialists from the “Internet-Video” association, who will collaboratively approve the final testing methodology.