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Protect young people from mature content, UCC asks artists and broadcasters
Mr Meddie Kaggwa says that whereas UCC encourages musicians to produce and monetise their content, there are issues around scenes and lyrics in some content, which expose young people to mature content. Photo Courtesy
What you need to know:
- UCC says there are growing concerns from the public against some artists and broadcasters producing and airing content that exposes young audiences to adult content
Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has challenged artists and broadcasters to ensure that they play their part in protecting young people from consuming mature content through adhering to content classification standards.
The call comes at a time when there is growing public outcry on the type of content being produced, aired and publicly consumed, including by young people, which has been made available by fast-growing digital media that makes most content available to anyone, regardless of its classification.
Speaking at the 2024 Uganda Performing Right Society (UPRS) Annual General Meeting in Kampala, Mr Meddie Kaggwa, the UCC head of multi-media and content, said that while the Commission supports content diversity and innovation, there is growing concern that artists and broadcasters are producing and airing content that exposes young audiences to adult content.
“We encourage musicians to produce and monetise their content. But yes, there are issues around the scenes and lyrics in some content. We are engaging artists on adequate classification of content so that it has proper consumption ratings. We are also engaging broadcasters and parents [to watch] what content should be aired and viewed at what time,” he said.
At the same event, there were renewed calls from stakeholders for government to fully pass and implement the copyright law to help elevate incomes of artists.
Mr Sam Okello, the UPRS chairman, said they are working closely with Uganda Registrations Services Bureau to fast track the realisation and implementation of the copyright law as it is a sure win for all content creators.
On his part, Mr Daniel Kazibwe aka Ragga Dee, the PSFU board member representing creatives, said Private Sector Foundation Uganda seeks to catalyse the creative sector to create work opportunities for young people through several initiatives such as National Startup Policy.
“PSFU has played a significant role in supporting the development of the National Startup Policy, which addresses challenges in the creative industry, particularly those faced by the Uganda Performing Rights Society and other stakeholders. This policy encourages startups to innovate and collaborate, which UPRS can leverage to develop new strategies for efficient royalty collection and distribution, such as song boost,” he said, urging UPRS to partner with tech startups to create advanced systems for tracking and managing royalties.
Mr Apollo Muyanja Mbazzira, the PSFU Lead Firm Structure project director, said apart from the National Startup Policy, they have other initiatives such as the Lead Firm Structure, a partnership with Mastercard Foundation that targets to create more than 300,000 dignified and fulfilling jobs for youth and women, which can directly benefit the creative industry.
He also urged musicians to unite for the good of the industry and collaborate more as this is one sure way of attaining success and winning more support.
