Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson, an American based pop star, briefly exposed her breast when her counterpart Justin Timberlake tore off part of her shirt while performing live during a Super Bowl half time show. As a result, the Federal Communication Commission fined the network (CBS) $550,000. However, CBS challenged the fine in court. It held that the system did not have to pay as FCC did not have a clear policy on brief displays of nudity and that broadcasters had to be offered a fair warning of policy and its restrictions.

I agree with this conclusion because, as much as the commission can fine broadcasters for brief nudity displays on live shows, it is clear that it never issued a notice of policy restrictions to the network or the performers. In the American legal system, the vital principle is that laws in which police persons or entities ought to give fair warning of conduct required or prohibited by them.

Janet Jackson’s indecency was an intentional occurrence. Justin Timberlake knew the lyrics to the song and, in part, ‘Gonna have you naked by the end of this song,’ which clearly shows that he acted the part by tearing off part of Janet’s shirt as a performance stunt to add play to the song.

As a network that broadcasts all through day and night time to all, young and old, CBS should always be aware of all the content of plays, acts, and shows they broadcast and at what time. In this case, since being a live show, the network ought to have communicated to the performers the type of content and performance they should exhibit.

The incident at the show should, in the first place, matter if it was intentional or accidental. Networks and performers should take it as a personal moral obligation to at all-time mind their audiences regardless of any policies put in place by governing bodies.