It is important that the content that reaches the audience via online streaming is regulated too
FAISALABAD: Recently, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority introduced elaborate guidelines for TV channels over content broadcast. More than news channels, entertainment channels have come under strict content regulation and scrutiny. The move has come at a time when television dramas in the country have expanded upon topics and have covered issues like child abuse and sexual harassment. With that, it is important that the content that reaches the audience via online streaming is regulated too. A case in point being the American TV show, 13 Reasons Why, that has explicit enactment of acts of rape and abuse. The show was severely criticised during its first season as well and now with the second season running on Netflix many viewers consider it to have dangerous consequences.
Efforts to filter visual content before it is viewed by millions will bear no fruit until and unless all platforms and channels are equally censored and regulated.
Hassan Shahid
Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2018.
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