Dr Simon Clarke (left), adviser to the governor general, speaks with Governor General-designate Dr Patrick Allen and his wife, Patricia, during a visit to King's House in St Andrew yesterday. Allen will be sworn in as governor general next Thursday. - Photo by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Following its previous ban on vulgar and explicit dancehall songs, the Broadcasting Commission yesterday placed a further prohibition on the transmission of all soca music with content that displays, simulates or instructs sexual activities or positions.

The island's electronic media watchdog has also outlawed the broadcasting of music with lyrics deemed to be glorifying the gun and promoting murder and other acts of violence.

The commission, last week, banned radio and television stations from airing songs with explicitly sexual and violent content, even if concealed by having bleeps. All dancehall music, which qualified as 'daggerin' content - the rapidly emerging culture of quasi-erotic dances and music - was also outlawed from the airwaves.

This has triggered a lively debate in some quarters, with many individuals accusing the commission of a double-standard approach to dancehall, while turning a blind eye to the crude and sometimes overtly sexual dancing during carnival parades.

However, the regulatory body had, earlier this month, said it would act against "all types of musical broadcast output, including soca music and carnival music".

Yesterday, the commission officially put in place its ban on some soca, calypso and hip-hop music.

The ban also extends to any content from live coverage or recorded shows, dances or events, which displays children participating in activities that simulate sexual activities or positions, whether in street parades, stage shows or at any other event.

Taken off the airwaves

The commission's directive on 'gun lyrics' further stipulates that any recording, live song or music video which promotes and/or glorifies the use of guns or other offensive weapons, offences against the person, such as rape, murder, and mob violence, or other offences, such as arson should be taken off the airwaves.

"Both directives require that programme managers and station owners or operators take immediate steps to prevent the transmission of any material to which these directives apply or which falls into the category of edited musical content using techniques of bleeping or beeping," continued the release.

The Gleaner was unable to contact Jamaica carnival director, Julian Lee-Samuels, daughter of the late soca king Byron Lee, for comment.

Ban on soca

Acting under Regulation 30 (d) and exercising powers granted under Regulation 31 of the Television and Sound Broadcasting Regulations, the Broadcasting Commission now requires the immediate halt to the transmission of "any live presentation, audio recording or music video from the soca, hip-hop or any other music genre, which promotes, contains references to, or is otherwise suggestive of, 'daggerin' or which publicly displays, simulates or instructs explicit sexual activities or positions"