Information Circular in respect of MDA's Required Baseline Safeguards for Over-The-Top Content Services Offering R21 Content

1.  Over-the-top (“OTT”) content services which intend to offer R21 content are required to fulfil the baseline safeguards set by MDA. With these safeguards in place, OTT content services will be able to offer a wider range of content to their users, and at the same time protect the under-aged from exposure to R21 content on their services.

2.  This circular sets out the baseline safeguards which MDA has developed following consultations with the industry and MDA’s advisory committees, as well as focus group discussions with members of the public. Some of the baseline safeguards that OTT content services must fulfil to offer R21 content include:

a. Age verification measures at point of subscription: OTT content services should:
(i) implement a reliable age verification mechanism at the point of subscription to ensure that subscribers are at least 21 years old, such as requiring credit card payment (i.e. no gift or store card payment); and (ii) require subscribers to declare their date of birth and that they are at least 21 years old.

b. Access controls: R21 content should be locked by default and can only be accessed by entering an R21 PIN. Subscribers should be required to set a customised R21 PIN upon subscription.

c. Age ratings and consumer advice: OTT content services should provide local age ratings (i.e. G, PG, PG13, NC16, M18, and R21) for all content. For titles rated PG13 and above, consumer advice should accompany the rating, stating the principal content elements which have contributed to the classification (e.g. violence, sex, and nudity).

3.  Details of the baseline safeguards can be found in the attached Annex A (232.64KB).

4.  Any queries on this industry circular may be addressed to:

The Media Development Authority of Singapore

Attn: Mr Alvin Kwok, Manager (Content Policy)

Email: alvin_kwok@imda.gov.sg