Australian regulator sues Amazon over Prime Video ad terms

Australia's consumer watchdog has filed a Federal Court lawsuit against Amazon, alleging the company used unfair contract terms to force advertising onto more than one million Prime Video subscribers and then charged them extra to remove it.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) initiated proceedings on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. It alleges that Amazon Australia's Prime subscription contracts contained five unfair terms between November 2023 and August 2025. These terms allegedly allowed Amazon to unilaterally make negative changes to the service without offering subscribers a remedy or compensation.

The regulator specifically points to Amazon's introduction of advertising to its Prime Video streaming service in July 2024. Prior to that date, the service was offered ad-free to Australian subscribers. After the change, more than 850,000 annual subscribers, who had already paid an upfront fee of A$79, were required to pay an additional A$2.99 per month to maintain an ad-free experience.

ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb stated that consumers were left with little choice. "Consumers who wanted to avoid ads were left with no choice but to pay more to maintain the service...