Let parents regulate what children watch on Netflix –Sotto

After the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) proposed regulating content being shown on streaming platforms, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said that regulating what children watch on Netflix and iFlix was a job that should be left to parents, not the government.

"Ito kasi papasok sa mga bahayan ng mga tao at sasabihin sa mga magulang kung ano ang dapat sabihin nila sa mga anak nila," Sotto said in a radio interview. "May mga magulang, hayaan ang mga magulang. Hindi pwedeng iasa lahat sa gobyerno, kainaman ng mga magulang, sila mismo ang mag regulate."

During a Senate joint panel hearing last week, MTRCB Legal Affairs Division chief Atty. Jonathan Presquito said unrated motion pictures are prohibited under the agency's laws.

"There is a necessity for us to proceed with the regulation, especially during the lockdown. Most of us ang nag-maintain ng sanity po natin 'yung mga streaming services eh. Netflix, Iflix, lahat ng mga movies na nakikita natin but all of those movies Mr. Chair, unrated po 'yun," Presquito said.

"Streaming services, like Netflix, are video on demand platforms and we have to regulate those platforms. We have to ensure that those materials being shown on those platforms are compliant with the MTRCB law," he added.

But Sotto countered that Netflix, for instance, provided parents a way to limit the content that can be accessed by their children.

"Pagka-on mo, medyo nag-register ka, or nag-log in ka, nakalagay naman doon kung gusto mo ikaw or kung gusto mo pang kids. Eh di i-program mo na pang kids, yun lang ang bigay mong password sa mga anak mo," he said.

Instead of regulating these streaming platforms, Sotto said the MTRCB should just strengthen their information dissemination campaign on how parents can limit the access of their children to content that may be inappropriate for their ages.

Senator Sherwin, in a separate radio interview, made a similar point.

"Ang aking payo sa kanila ay palakasin natin yung self-regulation," said Gatchalian.

"Itong mga Youtube, Netflix, may self-regulations siguraduhin lang natin na yung kanilang framework or kanilang mga patakaran pagdating sa self-regulation ay pareho sa atin, magkatugma, para hindi malayo yung pagsasagawa ng self-regulation at pareho sa ating mga pinaiiral natin dito," he added. — DVM, GMA News