MTRCB seeks content control mechanisms with online streaming apps

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) is proposing mechanisms for content control with online streaming platforms as they struggle with lack of jurisdiction over online films.

MTRCB Chairperson Lala Sotto-Antonio raised this at the Senate finance subcommittee's hearing into the agency's proposed P164 million budget for 2025 when Senator Jinggoy Estrada asked how they regulate contents that are supposed to be classified as X rated.

Estrada expressed concern that even minors can watch online content that are meant for adult or mature audiences.

"How can we solve this problem? Kasi kahit sino kahit menor de edad pwedeng manuod ng pelikula na supposedly X rated lalo na roon sa Vivamax. How can we control it? How can we regulate it?" Estrada asked.

"Truthfully, it is impossible to regulate all these online curated content platform services. We cannot review, classify each and every material before it is exhibited on the screens. First, it is not within our mandate, it is not within our purview and it is humanly impossible," Sotto-Antonio responded.

"There are only 31 board members and there are thousands [or] even millions of materials to be reviewed if we will be reviewing online streaming and the board is not capable of doing so," she went on.

To address this, the MTRCB chairperson said they are seeking measures in which they can cooperate with online streaming platforms with regards to feedback on their contents.

"What we were proposing, maybe to appropriate mechanisms for content control in a way that we want to ensure that there would be a cooperation with the online streaming apps, with the online curated content providers (OCCs), by using safeguards, ensuring that there is safety by design and that we are able to establish with them a feedback mechanism," she said.

"When we establish a strong feedback mechanism with a focal contact point from the OCCs then it is going to be easy for us to address the concerns and complaints from the general public, especially the parents who continue to be very bothered about what the content that their children are exposed to. But we need an assurance from the OCCs, from these providers that they would provide us with responsiveness and accountability to their content," she added.

According to Sotto-Antonio, MTRCB has already entered into dialogues with the owners of Vivamax and "they have been trying their best to cooperate."

"They do have PIN codes, they have created another online streaming app apart from Vivamax which is Vivaone. So we appreciate the efforts but unfortunately, the contents still bother the general public," Sotto-Antonio said. —RF, GMA Integrated News