Under a proposed new law put forth by the Culture Ministry on June 29, Apple, the US tech giant, will be required to include Slovenian as one of the language options in its operating system if it intends to continue selling its devices in Slovenia, Slovenia Times writes. This law aims to ensure that all manufacturers of electronic consumer devices offer the local language to consumers.
The bill states that Slovenian must be available as one of the operating system languages, with certain exceptions. These exceptions include devices not intended for mass consumer use and providers with a market share of less than 10% in Slovenia.
For years, Slovenia has been actively trying to persuade Apple, the only major mobile phone manufacturer without a Slovenian language interface, to include Slovenian among the language choices. Despite meetings and appeals to the company, no progress has been made thus far.
In addition to Apple, the proposed bill also focuses on Slovenian-based providers of online content, requiring them to offer their services in the Slovenian language. However, this requirement does not apply to providers that generate more than 90% of their revenue outside Slovenia. Nevertheless, the law “urges” such providers to include Slovenian among the language options.
It’s worth noting that large corporate platforms like Netflix and Disney will not be affected by this provision, despite facing criticism for not offering Slovenian subtitles. The Slovenian authorities have acknowledged that they lack the regulatory power to enforce this requirement on platforms based outside Slovenia.
Currently, the bill is open to public debate, and stakeholders have the opportunity to submit their comments until July 30th.
