Padilla threatens to ban Netflix, other platforms over violent content accessible to children

He issued the warning during a Facebook Live as the chamber examined the Aug. 18 shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School.

Edited image from the Senate of the Philippines

Control content or face ban

Sen. Robinhood Padilla threatened to have Netflix and other online platforms and games banned in the country unless they rein in violent content that children can access.

According to a Bilyonaryo report, the senator made the threat live on Facebook as he followed a Senate hearing into the Aug. 18 shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University's Junior High School campus, an attack that killed two students. The alleged shooter, a 14-year-old Grade 8 student, was among the dead.

Masyadong matagal, Meta. Ang tagal bago niyo natanggal 'yung video … Hanggang ngayon nga may lumalabas pa nung video. Mali kayo d'yan Meta, Padilla said.

Padilla, a former actor, argued that letting such footage circulate risks turning perpetrators into public figures and pushing other children toward copycat violence.

Gagayahin ng ibang bata 'yan. Dapat talagang makita na 'pag gumawa ka ng ganyan, tanggal. So hindi na sila mag-iisip, he said.

His warning extended beyond social media to streaming platforms like Netflix, other online content providers, and local free TV networks carrying violent shows and games within reach of young viewers.

Kung hindi niyo kayang kontrolin 'yan, i-ban kayo rito sa Pilipinas. Aba, kung nagagawa 'yan sa ibang bansa, bakit hindi pwedeng gawin ng Pilipinas? he said.

As chair of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, Padilla said platform representatives who skip his upcoming hearing should expect to be subpoenaed.

Via: Bilyonaryo