The music video Bootylicious has been banned from being broadcasted on all local media.
This has been imposed by the Minister for Religion, Youth & Community Development Delilah Gore.
The music video sparked a huge debate on social media early this month and was brought to the attention of the Censorship board of PNG.
But with no board in place, the music video was forwarded to the office of the minister for Religion, Youth & Community Development to make the decision.
Confirming this, Senior Censor Steven Mala said the decision on the ban has come on the grounds of not being culturally appropriate, against Christian beliefs, degrading women’s integrity and portraying very low degree of decency.
“We are here to encourage the music industry grow and be creative but artists have to bear in mind that we have cultures that need to be protected. We are also a Christian country and women have to be respected. In the case of this music video, the lyrics are too seductive and suggestive,” he said.
Mala also met with the video producer last week to highlight these issues.
“They can appeal the ban, under the citizens’ rights act. But they will have to come back with a revised version of it with an improved presentation.
“Otherwise, we have a circular which we will be passing to all media houses and productions advising them not to air this content.
But for the video uploaded on Youtube, we have no say on that because it’s out of our jurisdiction. We are only responsible for local content,” the Chief Censor said.
Going forward, the Censorship board is asking music and video producers to approach them before any release.
“There are standards in place so it’s better to come to us first, to save time and money later on,” Mala said.
Mala also dismissed rumours that the artist and the girls featured in the video will be arrested.
