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Govt to pilot self-regulation of Netflix classifications

Govt will pilot a program to allow Netflix to classify its own content, in what could be a sign of things to come.

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The Turnbull government has partnered with Netflix to create a self-regulation tool which will allow for faster classification of titles for Australian viewers.

A year in the making, the tool will overlay Netflix technology with Australia’s classification ratings and used as part of a pilot program over the next 12 months, according to a report in the Australian Financial Review.

Netflix has previously warned shows could be premiered later in Australia than the rest of the world due to a slow classification process. It has been lobbying the government to allow SVOD players to self-regulate. Television broadcasters in Australia traditionally have had in-house classifiers to assess content.

The Classification Board will review a number of the results to make sure the tool correctly classifies content based on Australian standards.

4 Responses

  1. If a show or program is rated R18 it’s self explanatory, the subject of censorship is becoming passe if broadcast standards seen in Europe are any indication. Presumably adults can make up their own minds about what is acceptable to them, the use of encrypted parental control options can regulate what minors will be able to see.

  2. In this day in age we really should have self regulation of classification across the board. Using the classification is costly and inefficient, and largely redundant as the media becomes more and more fragmented due to the internet. Why is it that no government has taken on m/any of the recommendations from the law reform commission’s review of classification from a few years ago? It’s really not a particularly controversial subject matter.

  3. No great shake-up or surprise there – both FTA & PayTV ‘self-classify’ their content, so it would’ve been rather stupid & potentially anti-competitive to prevent Netflix from doing the same for their own content…

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