Brazil: Provisions concerning physical media in Ministry of Justice ordinance on content classification system enter into force (Ordinance No. 1,048 of 2025)

On 17 November 2025, provisions concerning physical media in the Ministry of Justice’s ordinance on the content classification system enter into force. Under the regulation, media must be classified using an age rating system. Several forms of media are explicitly named, including films and home video, open television, subscription and streaming services, electronic games sold on physical media, role-playing games in book format, public entertainment, radio programs, and trailers/teasers. Regulations concerning internet applications have a later effective date of March 17, 2026. This classification system aims to protect children and adolescents by providing guidance to parents and guardians, with content rated according to thematic axes including violence, sex/nudity, drugs, and interactivity. The ordinance establishes age ratings: L, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18. It outlines two classification processes: official classification by the Ministry of Justice for works like theatrical films and physical video games, and self-classification by providers for open television, pay-television, and streaming services, which is subject to governmental monitoring. Self-classified works initially use provisional symbols until validated or changed by the Ministry, after which definitive symbols and content descriptors must be displayed. Providers of streaming and pay-television services must implement parental control blocking systems to restrict access to certain content. The ordinance requires the mandatory display of age rating symbols before and during most programmes and a verbal announcement for radio programmes. The National Secretariat for Digital Rights is responsible for the analysis, monitoring, and enforcement of the ordinance, including the power to reclassify works. The rules also prohibit using classification to discriminate on grounds of politics, religion, or sexual orientation. Broadcasters, producers, distributors, programmers of conditional access services, and organisers of public entertainment may all be held accountable for failing to correctly display indicators via an investigation process represented by the Public Prosecutor's Office.