Culture bans need prudence

The Ministry of Culture recently published a blacklist of online music and urged various websites to remove 120 songs, some by popular singers, from their platforms.

The move is based on a ministry regulation that came into effect in 2011 requiring online portals not to promote obscenity, gambling, violence and crimes.

The move represents progress, given that it is based on an established regulation and that there are issues with the songs on the blacklist, some of which contain explicit lyrics.