The Chairman of the Film Classification Committee (FCC), Socrate Sarfo has warned the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) not to dare FCC to take severe actions against GIBA since they are not complying with the regulations laid down to control explicit content that is being aired on television.
Earlier this year, the FCC decided to enforce the provisions in the Development and Classification of Film Act 935 to regulate contents shown on TV.
According to the Chairman of the Committee, Socrate Safo, although there has been an agreement with GIBA to ensure that TV stations do in-house regulation of their content, that has not been the case.
Speaking in an interview, Socrate Safo said: “We agreed with GIBA that there should be a period when the TV stations will do an in-house regulation of the system; we thought it wise to do it with the media houses. GIBA is not monitoring its members as we agreed on. There is a lot of content out there that is not supposed to be on air.
“An example is Black Sheriff’s First and Second Sermons being shown on TV. Per the guidelines, we don’t see why they are showing it at peak time. We have called the attention of the TV stations even though we are being a bit flexible for starters”.
FCC serves notices to GIBA
According to Mr. Sarfo, FCC has served GIBA several notices and yet nothing has been done. Due to this, he said: “In a few weeks, we will go hard on them because we are running out of patience. The TV stations are not being responsible at all.
- Kenyan Authority Ban Film about Gay Lovers
- National Film Authority’s ‘Presidential Film Pitch Series’ finalizes investment for IGrow
“This time, we have given them the option to be mindful. Now the videos will come through us before going to the TV stations. Per the classification, there is a time schedule for them to be shown”.
It can be recalled that in June this year, Socrate Safo speaking about the work FCC was doing, he indicated it was going well and the television stations were cooperating.
However, the narrative has now changed as Socrate Safo disclosed that GIBA is not playing its role effectively as it should.
“GIBA is not playing its role. For starters, TV stations have to be mindful of their in-house productions and be a bit more responsible. We are expecting nothing less from them”.
GIBA can’t control all television stations
Meanwhile, reacting to the claims, the Executive Secretary of GIBA, Gloria;Hiadzi, said not every television station in Ghana was a member of GIBA so their outfit could;not tell them “What to do and what not to do on their platforms”.
The Film Classification Committee is a body formed by the;National Film Authority and mandated by the Development and Classification of Film Act 935 to preview and classify any audio-visual content intended for public exhibition in Ghana.
The categories of audio-visual content set within the scope of materials to be classified by the Film Classification Committee are feature films, short films, TV series, and selected TV programs, documentaries, advertisements, and music videos. Read also: Phasing Out GH¢1 and GH¢2 notes won’t increase prices – Dr. Kwadwo Opoku
