The Federal Communications Commission is exploring the possibility of updating its TV rating system to reflect parental concerns about the inclusion of transgender content in shows currently rated appropriate for children.”Recently, parents have raised concerns that controversial gender identity issues are being included or promoted in children’s programs without providing any disclosure or transparency to parents,” the FCC wrote in a notice. “Specifically, the industry guidelines that parents rely on are rating shows with transgender and gender non-binary programming as appropriate for children and young children, and doing so without providing this information to parents, thereby undermining the ability of parents to make informed choices for their families.”
“Consistent with Congress’s vision for the ratings system, we seek comment on whether the industry’s approach is continuing to provide the information that is relevant to parents today,” it read.
Currently, the TV industry uses a voluntary rating system that it created, which the FCC determined met the requirements established in legislation from 1996.
The rating system includes TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA. It also includes content-specific ratings that flag specific types of material not suited for children.
Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.
