Amazon removes film from Prime Video – after just one viewer complaint

Movie breached regulations with controversial scene involving baby

Amazon has removed a film from Prime Video after receiving a single Ofcom complaint.

The media regulator found the UK strand of the streaming service breached its code with a scene that included a baby being seen in the same shot as sexual activity.

One viewer of the 18-certificate 2022 film Pamasahe, which was added to Prime Video earlier this year, attempted to contact Amazon with their complaint, but contacted Ofcom after receiving no response.

Ofcom then contacted the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), and it was found that the scene contains a frame that contravenes the Protection of Children Act 1978”.

This finding was based on the fact the scene ”shows a child in the same frame as sexual activity”.

When the BBFC contacted Amazon about the complaint, and the code violation, Deadline reports the corporation removed the film from its streaming service.

Amazon told The Independent it believed its content-checking measures were “robust, complete and effective”, and said: “These sorts of content policies are nuanced and we regularly evaluate where we can make improvements”.

Amazon also highlighted the fact it had received no “prior formal investigations from Ofcom” in “over a decade of content distribution” under the regulator’s supervision.

Filipino film Pamasahe, directed by Roman Perez Jr, follows a penniless mother (Azi Acosta) who, with her infant child, turns to sex work in order to travel to Manila, where she hopes to reunite with her husband.

‘Pamasahe’ has been removed from Prime Video – after a single complaint (Prime Video)

Last month, the House of Lords passed a Media Bill that will see others streaming services, previously not regulated by Ofcom, overseen by the government-approved watchdog.

This means that Netflix and Disney will for the first time have to adhere to its rules and guidelines – something which was vehemently called for after the release of Baby Reindeer.

The biographical series, written by and starring comedian Richard Gadd, follows struggling comic Donny Dunn (Gadd) as he is relentlessly harassed and stalked by Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning) for more than four years. Since the show’s release on 11 April, it has become a word-of-mouth sensation.

When the seven-episode series arrived on the service, it did so with very little fanfare and promotion – but the real-life element of the story piqued the interest of viewers, shooting it to the top of Netflix’s most-watched charts in the UK and US within a matter of days.

‘Baby Reindeer’ caused a safeguarding debate after Netflix release (Ed Miller/Netflix)

However, this unprecedented success came with a caveat: with more eyes on the show came more attempts to discover the real-life inspirations behind the show’s controversial characters, including Martha, in a move that Gadd himself has criticised. Elsewhere, earlier this week, Richard Osman claimed that “everyone” in the comedy industry knows who the abuser depicted in the show is.