13 reasons Why Katherine Langford and Dylan Minnette in a still from '13 reasons Why' - Beth Dubber, Netflix
The parents television Council has entreated streaming giant Netflix to put on hold the release of the second season its hit show 13 reasons Why.
The conservative group said Netflix have to pause the release of the second one season until "professionals in the scientific community have decided it to be safe for consumption by an audience this is comprised heavily of minor kids".
The show become heavily criticised last year for the graphic depiction of its lead character's suicide. It also touched upon various other issues such as teenager depression, bullying, rape and suicide.
Netflix had remaining month announced that it added warning cards and crisis hotlines information to episodes and additionally commissioned a global research study with Northwestern college's center on Media and Human development titled, "Exploring How teens and mother and father responded to 13 reasons Why."
The study led Netflix to introduce even more changes, which include a custom introduction to every season from the show's cast about the issues explored within the season.
PTC has lauded Netflix for the new viewer protections, however also stressed that the streaming giant need to add additional safeguards.
"The impact of season one of 13 reasons Why, which culminated with a graphic suicide scene of a high college-aged character, was powerful and intense: millions of children watched; the Google search term for how to commit suicide spiked 26%; and there were news reports of children literally taking their own lives after the series became launched," PTC president Tim winter said in a statement.
The group also asked Netflix to implement a pricing structure to permit subscribers to opt out of adult or explicit programming in exchange for a reduction in fee; work with a filtering service provider to allow customers to censor explicit content; and participate in a national symposium to "develop and identify effective protective measures for children and families".
