Danger in ‘hate’ definition
Green, executive director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ), said while there is the need for content to be regulated and artistes held accountable for their actions (inside and outside of their capacity as an entertainer), the decision on what is made available to the public on digital platforms should not be determined by any privately owned institution. He explained that similar to the BCJ, a committee should be set up in
law to determine what content is deemed harmful and what course of action to take thereafter.
“I can’t speak definitively to Spotify’s policy, having not read it myself, but here is what I will say. There’s a danger in determining suitability of content based on subjective measures. The criminal law process is different from the creation of art, and so the challenge that I have is when it is corporations or privately owned businesses that take on this responsibility. Who determines whether what is serving the public interest?” he questioned. “A regulatory body such as the Broadcasting Commission is established by Parliament and it is accountable to the people of Jamaica. It has the authority of the Parliament to regulate content and, even then there are parameters to it because we have to operate within the boundaries of what has been established under the constitution of Jamaica. So the Broadcasting Commission can’t get up and say ‘this artiste music mustn’t play because we nuh like the artiste or the artiste black or him come from a particular background’.”