Information Circular in respect of MDA's Required Baseline Safeguards for Over-The-Top Content Services Offering R21 Content

08 Jul 2016

1. Over-the-top (“OTT”) content services which intend to offer R21 content are required to fulfil the baseline safeguards set by MDA. With these safeguards in place, OTT content services will be able to offer a wider range of content to their users, and at the same time protect the under-aged from exposure to R21 content on their services.

2. This circular sets out the baseline safeguards which MDA has developed following consultations with the industry and MDA’s advisory committees, as well as focus group discussions with members of the public. Some of the baseline safeguards that OTT content services must fulfil to offer R21 content include:

a. Age verification measures at point of subscription: OTT content services should:

(i) implement a reliable age verification mechanism at the point of subscription to ensure that subscribers are at least 21 years old, such as requiring credit card payment (i.e. no gift or store card payment); and (ii) require subscribers to declare their date of birth and that they are at least 21 years old.

b. Access controls: R21 content should be locked by default and can only be accessed by entering an R21 PIN. Subscribers should be required to set a customised R21 PIN upon subscription.

c. Age ratings and consumer advice: OTT content services should provide local age ratings (i.e. G, PG, PG13, NC16, M18, and R21) for all content. For titles rated PG13 and above, consumer advice should accompany the rating, stating the principal content elements which have contributed to the classification (e.g. violence, sex, and nudity).

3. Details of the baseline safeguards can be found in the attached Annex A.

4. Any queries on this industry circular may be addressed to:

The Media Development Authority of Singapore

Attn: Mr Alvin Kwok, Manager (Content Policy)

Email: alvin_kwok@mda.gov.sg

=ANNEX A= DETAILS ON THE PROPOSED REQUIREMENTS FOR OTT CONTENT SERVICES WITH R21 CONTENT

Age verification measures
OTT content services should: (i) implement a reliable age verification mechanism at the point of subscription to ensure that subscribers are at least 21 years old, such as requiring credit card payment (i.e. no gift or store  card  payment);  and  (ii)  require  subscribers  to  declare  their date of birth and that they are at least 21 years old.

Available channels for parent to cancel or transfer access of the account
As an  additional  safeguard,  parents  should  also  be  provided  with recourse, such as through the OTT content service’s customer dispute resolution system,  to  write  in  to  cancel  or  transfer  access  to  the account if it has been found that their under-aged child has subscribed to the service without permission.

Setting and entering of R21 PIN
R21 content should be locked by default and can only be accessed by entering an  R21  PIN. Subscribers should  be  required  to  set  a customised R21 PIN upon subscription.

PIN re-entry upon timeout
OTT content services should require re-entry of R21 PIN if an R21 title has been paused for more than 30 minutes. OTT content  services  can  provide  consumers  with  the  flexibility  to reduce the timeout threshold to less than 30 minutes (optional).

Resetting of R21 PIN
OTT content services are required to send a confirmation email or text message to  the  registered  email  address  or  mobile  phone  number before allowing the subscriber to reset the R21 PIN.

Other PIN re-entry requirements
Once a  user has entered the R21 PIN,  the user  is not required to re-enter the PIN when switching between R21 titles. However, if the user switches from  an  R21  title  to  a  non-R21  title,  the  user  should  be required to re-enter the R21 PIN upon switching back to an R21 title.

Local age ratings
OTT content services should provide local age ratings (i.e. G, PG, PG13, NC16, M18, and R21) for all content.

Consumer advice
For titles rated PG13 and above, consumer advice should accompany the rating,  stating  the  principal  content  elements  which  have contributed to the classification (e.g. violence, sex, and nudity).

Content previously classified by MDA
For titles previously classified by MDA, the title must carry MDA’s assigned age rating and consumer advice. For content that has not been classified by MDA, OTT content services may self-classify  content  according  to  MDA’s  Film  Classification Guidelines.

Trailers of individual R21 titles
Trailers of individual R21 titles should only be accessible to users after the R21 PIN is entered in the OTT content service. Trailers of R21 titles are allowed if they accompany another R21 title, e.g. as a tag-on or pre-roll trailer.

Promotion of R21 OTT content service on free-to-air TV and radio
Promotion of OTT content services offering R21 content and individual R21 titles are not allowed on free-to-air TV and radio.

===Promotion of R21 OTT content service on Pay TV linear channels (containing up to M18 content)===

Promotion of OTT content services on Pay TV linear channels should be confined to timeslots on channels where M18 content is shown (i.e. 10pm to 6am). Such advertisements can only promote the OTT content service as  a  whole,  and  not  promote  specific  R21  titles. However, posters, still images, or excerpts from the R21 titles can be used in the advertisement if the visuals do not exceed PG standards. OTT content  services  should  exercise  discretion  when  advertising services offering R21 content. They should also exercise due caution to not include in the advertisements posters, still images or excerpts of R21 titles  which  are  controversial  or  contain  sensitive  content concerns and themes.

Promotion of R21 OTT content service on print and online platforms
Advertisements for  OTT  content  services  offering  R21  content  and individual R21 titles are allowed on print and online provided that the visuals are suitable for general audiences. =See also=


 * Singapore gay censorship

=References=


 * News Release, "Information Circular in respect of MDA's Required Baseline Safeguards for Over-The-Top Content Services Offering R21 Content", 8 July 2016, MDA wesbite:.