The Kenya Films Classification Board has cautioned parents over popular Netflix series squid game because of its graphic and violent nature.
Trough a statement, KFCB said a series of concerns from parents and guardians over the series have been raised despite it being rated over 18 years.
“The release of the ‘Squid Game’ to the Kenyan market has, however, also elicited concern from parents and caregivers over children emulating some of the scenes in real life settings, either at home or in school,” part of the statement read.
The film board issued guidelines concerning the film so as to advice parents and guardians.
According to KFCB, the film is rated 18+ and therefore should not be consumed by younger audiences even though it has child-like references.
The board noted that aside from the age rating, Netflix issued notes for suicide, violence and sex to advice viewers that are 18 and above, that the content could be disturbing while stating some scary scenes have been pasted on online platforms like YouTube.
KFCB said that there is a potential risk that children may want to emulate scenes from squid game thus causing just like in previous cases.
“It will be recalled that in 2021, a Kenyan youth is reported to have confessed as having murdered his parents and siblings on account of the influence of a film titled Killing Eve. Further, in 2017, another popular challenge game dubbed Blue Whale, allegedly led to suicide among teenagers in various parts of the world including Kenya,” said KFCB.
The board further noted that both parents and the board have a responsibility to ensure that clean content is broadcasted in their homes especially when the holiday season is approaching so as to protect children.
“If parents give their children access to smartphones and online streaming platforms such as Netflix, they must take deliberate steps to monitor what their young ones, especially minors, are consuming in order to guide them accordingly and make use of the wide parental controls offered on the service,” KFCB reports.
Lastly, it was mentioned that because of the many concerns related to the series, KFCB engaged Netflix and agreed that they will have a sensitization programme to educate parents, guardians, teachers and care-givers on the available safeguards on the Netflix platform.
The board added that they are open to collaborations with content exhibitors to ensure that content exhibited on their platforms is examined and classified before exhibition to the public.
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