Brazilian advisory rating system

The advisory rating (Portuguese: Classificação Indicativa, abbreviated ClassInd) is a content rating system for the classification of movies, games and television programs in Brazil. The ClassInd rating system is controlled by the Advisory Rating Coordination (Coordenação de Classificação Indicativa) of the Department of Justice Politics (Departamento de Políticas de Justiça). It is established on the National Secretariat of Justice (Secretaria Nacional de Justiça) of the Ministry of Justice.

Advisory rating
Classificação Indicativa
Age ranges used in the advisory rating.
AbbreviationClassInd
Formation1990 (1990)
PurposeRating body
HeadquartersBrasília, Federal District, Brazil
Parent organization
Ministry of Justice
Websitejustica.gov.br/seus-direitos/classificacao culturadigital.br/classind/

Staff

The staff consists of about 30 people, including raters and the administrative staff, having passed public service exams, with various academic backgrounds. These content rating analysts undergo continuous training, and never affix a rating individually. All works are watched by at least two analysts separately and if there is no consensus, the analysis group is broadened.[1]

Analyses and criteria

The criteria that guide the public policy of the content rating are supported under 3 broad themes—sex, drugs, and violence—content considered inappropriate to the upbringing of children and adolescents. The analysis is made counterbalancing the frequency, relevance, context, intensity and importance to the plot of scenes, dialogues and images containing violence, drug use and sex/nudity. This margin of subjectivity ensures flexibilities that are critical to the process and the rating result. The analyses consist of three steps: factual description, thematic description and age grading. When the process is finished, it is subjected to the coordination, and finally to the director of the department, who makes the order for publication on the Brazilian Official Journal, along with small content descriptors. The criteria for rating the works were developed taking into account national and international studies and public hearings in all regions across Brazil, including public debates, both face-to-face and online.[1]

Aiming to provide an instrument for the choice of the family, the Practical Guide was created, which claims to bring transparency and objectivity to the public policy of the content rating, showing detailed analysis criteria, subdivided by age groups. They can serve broadcasters, producers and distributors of movies and games and also families and society in general.[1]

The objectivity of the analysis departs from moral considerations and moralistic views.[1] The Ministry of Justice specifically cited that sexual orientation does not aggravate the rating and that, in fact, showing material of respect and encouragement to diversity can attenuate the rating.[2] They also specified that their job is to give an advisory rating for parents, therefore, they do not have any legal right to ban, demand cuts or refuse to rate any work.[3]

Works

Films and television programs

People under the minimum age indicated by the rating can watch the movie and/or TV program only if accompanied by their parents (the accompanying guardian must be of 18 years of age or older), except for 18-rated movies on the cinemas.[4] Films for cinema and DVD/Blu-ray releases are previously rated by the ClassInd. TV programs are rated by their own broadcasters and therefore the rating can be accepted or denied if considered inappropriate.[5]

Video games

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) system was de facto adopted by some Brazilian distributors, consequence of working with North American publishers, and was not translated from English or adapted to the Brazilian culture, being inappropriate for the Brazilian market and leaving most consumers uninformed. It was introduced by Senator José Gregori, that the growing game market in Brazil needed bigger control over the countless games sold in the country every day.

Since 2001, games are rated in Brazil by the Department of Justice, Rating, Titles and Qualification, part of the Ministry of Justice.[6]

The ClassInd rating system is the same for games, films and television programs. Rating is mandatory for all games released in Brazil. A consequence, is that several online stores do not sell games, or are not even available to Brazil. However, after becoming a member of the International Age Rating Coalition in 2013, it became easier for digitally distributed games to receive a ClassInd rating.

Rating ranges

NOTE: There are also operational descriptions of attenuating and aggravating elements, such as scene composition, relevance, frequency, motivation, among others, that can interfere on the final rating.[5]

Icon Description
 Livre (General Audiences): This rating applies to works which contain predominantly positive contents and which do not bring unsuitable elements subject to age ranges higher than 10, such as the ones listed below:
Violence: Fantasy violence; display of arms with no violence; deaths with no violence; bones and skeletons with no violence.
Sex and Nudity: Non-erotic nudity.
Drugs: Moderate or suggestive use of legal drugs.
 Não recomendado para menores de dez anos (Not recommended for minors under ten): The following contents are accepted for this age range:
Violence: Display of arms with violence; fear/tension; distress; bones and skeletons with signs of violent acts; criminal acts without violence; derogatory language.
Sex and Nudity: Educational contents about sex.
Drugs: References to the use of legal drugs; discussion on the issue "drug trafficking"; medicinal use of illegal drugs.
 Não recomendado para menores de doze anos (Not recommended for minors under twelve): The following contents are accepted for this age range:
Violence: Violent act; body injury; violence references; sight of blood; victim's pain; natural or accidental death with violence; violent act against animals; exposure to danger; showing people in embarrassing or degrading situations; verbal aggression; obscenity; bullying; corpses; sexual harassment; overvaluation of the physical beauty; overvaluation of consumption.
Sex and Nudity: Veiled nudity; sexual innuendo; sexual fondling; masturbation; coarse language; sex references; sex simulation; sexual appeal.
Drugs: Use of legal drugs; inducing the use of legal drugs; medication misuse; illegal drugs references.
 Não recomendado para menores de catorze anos (Not recommended for minors under fourteen): The following contents are accepted for this age range:
Violence: Intentional death; social stigma/prejudice.
Sex and Nudity: Moderated nudity; erotization; crude language; sexual intercourse; prostitution.
Drugs: Suggestive use of illegal drugs; references to the use or trafficking of illegal drugs; discussion on the "decriminalization of illegal drugs".
 Não recomendado para menores de dezesseis anos (Not recommended for minors under sixteen): The following contents are accepted for this age range:
Violence: Rape; sexual exploitation; sexual coercion; torture; mutilation; suicide; gratuitous violence/trivialization of violence; abortion, death penalty, euthanasia.
Sex and Nudity: Total nudity; intense sexual intercourse.
Drugs: Production or trafficking of any illegal drug; use of illegal drugs; inducing the use of illegal drugs.
 Não recomendado para menores de dezoito anos (Not recommended for minors under eighteen): The following contents are accepted for this age range:
Violence: Violence of high impact; exaltation, glamorization and/or praising of violence; cruelty; hate crimes; pedophilia.
Sex and Nudity: Explicit sex; complex/strong impact sexual intercourse (incest, group sex, violent fetish and pornography overall).
Drugs: Praising of the use of illegal drugs.

Former ratings
Icon Description
 Especialmente recomendado para crianças e adolescentes (Especially recommended for children and teenagers)
This film and/or TV program does not contain any inappropriate contents, but it may be better understood by children older than 9 years of age and teenagers. This rating was abandoned in 2008.

Content descriptors

Information on the rating system includes content descriptors which are a summary of the main rating indicators inserted in the work rated. The list of descriptors explains the rating system and also informs parents and guardians about the type of content that the work contains. For instance, a work rated as "10 years old" and with the descriptor "Violence" will contain light violent scenes, while a work rated as "16 years old" and the same descriptor will show stronger violent scenes. Below is a list of the twelve terms used in the rating system:[5]

  1. Violência (Violence);
  2. Violência Extrema (Extreme Violence);
  3. Conteúdo Sexual (Sexual Content);
  4. Nudez (Nudity);
  5. Sexo (Sex);
  6. Sexo Explícito (Explicit Sex);
  7. Drogas (Drugs);
  8. Drogas Lícitas (Legal Drugs);
  9. Drogas Ilícitas (Illegal Drugs);
  10. Linguagem Imprópria (Inappropriate Language);
  11. Atos Criminosos (Criminal Acts);
  12. Conteúdo Impactante (Shocking Content).

Requesting a rating

In order to request a Qualification Rating, one will have to provide a documentation (in a Portuguese-language form) which explains why a media (game/TV show, etc.) is recommended or not to a certain rating. A preview of that media is also compulsory to avoid mistakes during media verification.

The document will have to be sent to the Department of Justice, Rating, Titles and Qualification. There's no fee to get the rating and the process from the documents reception to the official rating can take about 20 days.

gollark: Why should I do this? You set it to private.
gollark: Somehow.
gollark: It has less documentation than ABR.
gollark: I don't like this bot.
gollark: I had to beware some cryoapioforms quickly.

References
  1. "Portal Colaborativo da Classificação Indicativa -". culturadigital.br. Archived from the original on 26 May 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Centerplex Cinemas - Lei da Classificação Indicativa". www.centerplex.com.br. Archived from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  5. Practical Guide Content Rating Archived 29 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine (PDF)
  6. http://portal.mj.gov.br/services/DocumentManagement/FileDownload.EZTSvc.asp?DocumentID={5285EF7E-6023-419E-8669-88DE64D53A6A}&ServiceInstUID={59D015FA-30D3-48EE-B124-02A314CB7999}%5B%5D
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