Meta, HBO Make PTC’s Naughty List

LOS ANGELES (December 6, 2023) – In the spirit of the season, Parents Television and Media Council (PTC) has revealed that Meta and HBO have made its Naughty List for targeting children with harmful content.

“In a screen saturated world, children, teens, and their parents have a lot to navigate. Meta and HBO aren’t making this any easier for families by targeting youth with explicit sexual and other harmful content. Our Naughty & Nice List seeks to highlight some of the companies that prioritize children and families, and those who prioritize profit over child safety,” said Melissa Henson, vice president of the Parents Television and Media Council.

“We are grateful to highlight AppleTV+ and Bentkey for offering more family entertainment. These companies serve as models that the entertainment business can emulate.”

NAUGHTY

HBO – HBO has led the charge towards marketing explicit, adult content to children and teens, introducing the sexually explicit The Idol to viewers this past summer, quietly adding Naked Attraction featuring uncensored fully naked contestants, and extending teen-targeted Euphoria for another season of drugs and depravity. PTC research has found that HBO’s streaming platform Max has mediocre parental controls, enabling children to access to the aforementioned programs and more of the most explicit streaming content on the market. Given that a UCLA survey of teens and young adults found that they “think sex and romance are too prominent in TV shows and movies,” HBO should greatly reduce and/or eliminated sexual content in programs targeted to teens.

Meta – The parent company of Facebook and Instagram continues to be revealed by media outlets, whistleblowers, and lawsuits as fueling child sexual exploitation, providing a platform for pedophiles, and enabling sexually explicit and other harmful content that targets teens, especially teen girls. Meta was sued by the District of Columbia and 41 states claiming its products are addictive and potentially harmful to children and their mental health. If the growing evidence isn’t a wakeup call for greater accountability for Meta, we don’t know what is.

NICE

AppleTV+ - In the PTC’s 2023 study of streaming platforms, AppleTV+ was found to offer the largest number of TV-G rated original programming. Surveys indicate families want to watch TV together, and AppleTV+ is giving families more options than most streaming platforms, which heavily produce and distribute TV-MA-rated programming.

Bentkey - In response to a lack of child-friendly programming, The Daily Wire launched Bentkey, a streaming platform offering safe and appropriate children’s programming. Bentkey joins others like UP, Great American Family, INSP, Dove, Pure Flix, and Angel Studios in producing and distributing enjoyable family-friendly fare, clearly fulfilling audience demand.