Lawmakers slam MTRCB plan to regulate video streaming platforms

Members of the Senate and Congress have expressed their disapproval over the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB)’s plan to regulate video streaming platforms like Netflix.

In a report by the Inquirer.net, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Friday criticized MTRCB’s plan and said that they would have none of that.

“Instead of imposing unnecessary regulations, the MTRCB should be looking at ways to help upgrade the Philippine entertainment industry so that it meets international standards, and can compete at the highest creative levels. At the same time, we need to encourage and educate Filipino audiences of all ages to be more discerning in what they watch.” Cayetano said on a Facebook post.

Senator Grace Poe, who was a former MTRCB chair is also against the plan and said that it was “counterproductive and ridiculous.”

In a report by PhilStar, Deputy Speaker for finance LRay Villafuerte described MTRCB’s move as a “regulatory overstretch” and may suffer “a hefty cut in its 2021 budget.” He then called on MTRCB regulators to “stop wasting taxpayers’ money.”

Villafuerte also added that even if the MTRCB can prove that it has the legal authority to regulate video streaming platforms, he doubts that it has the resources and manpower to do the task 24/7.

Last week, MTRCB legal affairs division chief Jonathan Presquito said that the agency expresses its need to rate TV series and films available on the streaming services during the lockdown to check the digital content platforms’ compliance with the MTRCB law.