November 2022 | Volume 14, Issue 4

Read the full article on ABC News

According to the article, Jamaica’s broadcasting regulator has banned music and television broadcasts deemed to glorify or promote criminal activity, violence, drug use, scamming and weapons.

The government said the ban is meant to cut back on material that “could give the wrong impression that criminality is an accepted feature of Jamaican culture and society.”

Jamaican artists criticized the measure, saying it cuts populations affected by heightened gun violence out of the conversation, and that it will do little to stop crime.

“Art imitates life, and the music is coming from what is happening in Jamaica for real,” said Stephen McGregor, a Jamaican Grammy Award-winning music producer and singer. “But because it doesn’t fit the moral mold of what they would like it to look like, they try to hamper it.”

The ban comes after years of struggle by the Caribbean nation to halt high levels of gun violence, which caused Jamaica to have the highest murder rate in Latin America and the Caribbean last year, according to research center Insight Crime.

The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica said in a release that such music or video on public broadcasts “normalize criminality among vulnerable and impressionable youth.”

The directive also said that channels should avoid “urban slang” that has anything to do with making money, wire transfers, acquiring wealth or a lavish lifestyle. It cited specific words like: “jungle justice,” “bank/foreign account,” “food,” “wallet,” “purse,” “burner phone” and “client.”

But artists like McGregor, known by his artist name Di GENIUS, said he viewed the ban as a free speech issue, and that the Jamaican government would be better served to address root causes of violence like the pandemic-fueled economic crisis.

The broadcasting commission declined to respond to the media’s request for comment on criticisms and did not immediately detail the consequences of a violation. But the commission asked the public to report any alleged violators.

Jamaica has implemented such bans previously, including one in 2009. McGregor, 32, said his own music has been banned from airwaves throughout his career for making mentions of sex and guns, but said restrictions never really lasted.

Other Jamaican artists such as Rvssian, NotNice, and Romeich have all come out on social media slamming the directive.

Many made mention that such a measure would have little practical effect on violence, especially because youth get their media from streaming platforms like Spotify or YouTube.

Rather, McGregor said, it’s a way to scapegoat artists for larger state failures to address endemic problems and discontent.

“The music that comes from that, people are not going to be creating happy, feel good ‘one love, one heart’ music in those circumstances,” McGregor said. “You can’t force the creatives to paint a picture that’s not really in front of us.”

 

Discussion Questions

1. Does Jamaica provide for constitutional protection of speech? If so, is it equivalent to the protection of speech provided by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution?

According to Jamaica’s Constitution of 1962 Section 13(3)(c) and (d), Jamaica protects the right to freedom of expression, as well as the right to seek, receive, distribute, or disseminate information, opinions, and ideas through any media. In terms of its specific language, the Jamaican Constitution is very similar to the U.S. Constitution regarding freedom of expression and freedom of the press (media).

 

For additional information regarding the free speech protections of the Jamaican Constitution, please see the following internet addresses:

https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Jamaica_2015.pdf?lang=en

https://freespeechfreepress.wordpress.com/jamaica/

2. As the article indicates, Jamaica’s broadcasting regulator has banned music and television broadcasts deemed to “glorify or promote” criminal activity, violence, drug use, scamming and weapons. In enforcing this regulation, how does one define and identify material that “glorifies or promotes” criminal activity?

In your author’s opinion, therein lies the conundrum—more specifically, the difficulty (impossibility?) of specifically defining what “glorifies or promotes” criminal activity. Given this difficulty, it would be up to Jamaica’s broadcasting regulator (and ultimately, the Jamaican judicial system) to apply the standard on a case-by-case basis, with specific reference to the unique facts and circumstances of the case.

3. Jamaican artists criticized the measure, saying it cuts populations affected by heightened gun violence out of the conversation, that it will do little to stop crime, and that the Jamaican government would be better served addressing root causes of violence like the pandemic-fueled economic crisis.

In your reasoned opinion, are these strong arguments against the measure? Why or why not?

These are opinion questions, so student responses may vary. In your author’s opinion, these are compelling arguments. Research confirms that an economic crisis can translate into a higher crime rate (with the criminality spurred on by a sense of desperation and necessity). With that being said, the Jamaican government could address the problem on more than one “front” (i.e., by confronting broadcasts that deem to “glorify or promote” criminal activity, as well as the root causes of crime.) Although it appears that Jamaica’s constitutional protections are patterned after the U.S. Constitution and other rights advanced during the “Age of Enlightenment,” Jamaica’s interpretation of freedom of expression can change, just as the United States’ interpretation of the right can change.