Following Netflix, Amazon also temporarily lowered the video bitrate in Europe

According to foreign media reports, following Netflix and YouTube, Amazon also announced today that it will temporarily lower the video bit rate across Europe to help control Internet traffic during the epidemic.

The European Union yesterday called on Netflix, YouTube and other streaming providers to consider temporarily reducing the picture quality of their streaming services to ease pressure on Europe's broadband networks as tens of millions of people in Europe start working from home amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The EU also said that streaming services should consider offering only standard definition rather than high definition, and that users should be mindful of their data consumption.

Netflix has taken the lead in responding to the EU's call. On Thursday local time, Netflix announced that the picture quality of all streaming videos broadcast in Europe will be lowered in the next 30 days. Netflix said: "We promise that all content in the EU will temporarily switch to standard definition by default."

Netflix was followed by YouTube, which said in a statement that it would temporarily set all content in the European Union to standard definition to avoid putting pressure on the internet.

Amazon made the same choice today. Amazon said its Prime Video service is working with local authorities and Internet service providers as needed to help ease any network pressure. In Europe, the picture quality has been lowered while maintaining the user viewing experience.

On Tuesday this week, as a large number of British people began working from home, the networks of the UK's four major mobile operators EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three were all paralyzed at one point.