SILENCE OF THE CARIBBEAN

Jamaica Bans Music and TV That Glorifies Crime

The government wants to fight the impression that “criminality is an accepted feature” of Jamaican life.

Jamaica’s broadcasting regulator has banned all music and television broadcasts that it perceives as glorifying criminal activity, drug use, weapons or scamming. The Caribbean nation’s government says the draconian censorship is aimed at cutting back on material which “could give the wrong impression that criminality is an accepted feature of Jamaican culture and society.” The ban comes after Jamaican authorities have battled rising rates of gun violence which have pushed the country’s murder rate to the highest of any nation in the Caribbean and Latin America in 2021. The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica also instructed channels to avoid “urban slang” that relates to lavish lifestyles, acquiring money, or making wire transfers.