MANILA, Philippines – The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) clarified on Tuesday, September 3, that it is not within their mandate to regulate content in social media sites and online streaming platforms.
MTRCB Chairperson Lala Sotto-Antonio said this during the hearing of the Senate finance subcommittee hearing on the proposed 2025 budget of MTRCB and the Film Development Council of the Philippines.
Asked by Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada if the MTRCB can regulate X-rated content on social media sites and online streaming platforms, the MTRCB chief said, “Truthfully, it’s 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. It is not within our mandate, not within our purview,” she added.
MTRCB Executive Director Roberto Diciembre also explained that the board was established through President Decree No. 1986 in 1985, when the internet was not yet in existence. “Hindi pa namin jurisdiction ‘yung online,” he added. (Online isn’t under our jurisdiction.)
Sotto-Antonio said that it is “not humanly possible” for the board to monitor online content as they only have 31 board members. “There are thousands, even millions of materials to be reviewed if we will be reviewing online streaming. The board is not capable of doing so,” she said.
Although it is not within their mandate, the MTRCB said that they hold meetings with social media sites Meta and TikTok to “discuss safeguards and security measures” and that these discussions include talks about “appropriate mechanisms for content control,” as well as “ensuring that there’s safety design and establishing a feedback mechanism.”
She noted that this feedback mechanism is an “easy way to address the concerns and complaints from the general public.” The MTRCB chief added that a lot of parents are “very bothered” about the online content that their children are exposed to.
When asked, Sotto-Antonio confirmed that the parents’ complaints include grievances against streaming platform Vivamax, which has a growing roster of adult-rated content. She said that the board previously held dialogues with them and that the platform said that they were “trying their best to cooperate” with MTRCB.
Sotto-Antonio said Vivamax initiated the use of pin codes but the board still finds this inadequate. “We appreciate the efforts, but unfortunately, the contents still bothers the general public,” she said.
“We need these providers to provide us with responsiveness and accountability to their content,” Sotto-Antonio said. – Rappler.com