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‘Glorifying’ criminality ban on Jamaica's airwaves

Jamaica's broadcasting authority has banned any entertainment material that glorifies drug use, guns, swearing and scamming – on TV, radio  and in music – drawing criticism from  creative artists.

It comes as a result of a spike in violent crime in Jamaica , which had one of the highest murder rates in Latin America and the Caribbean last year.

Clean-up

The clean-up comes in an attempt by broadcasting authorities to allay an image of the country as accepting criminality as a “feature of Jamaican culture and society".

“Normalising” criminality among "vulnerable and impressionable" young people was given as a reason for the changes, which come into effect immediately.

Grammy award-winning music producer and singer, Stephen McGregor, who goes by the stage name ‘Di Genius’ shared his frustrations on Twitter: "Yay! Crime and violence gonna magically stop now," he wrote sarcastically, before pointing out that young people listen to music over the internet more often than through radio.