Brazil pulls 'all ages' rating from Record TV's Bible cartoons, advising 8 p.m. or later; the network can ask for review
The Sunday-morning block, on air since 2003, is now 'not recommended for under 12.' The rating is advisory, not a ban, and the network can request review.
At 9 a.m. this Sunday, Nov. 1, Record TV's schedule listed its Bible Cartoons block, followed by Woody Woodpecker at 10:30. The program is on the day's lineup. What changed was the label: for Brazil's Justice Ministry, the children's block is no longer suitable for all ages.
The new rating for Record Kids: Desenhos Bíblicos ran in the federal Diário Oficial da União on Oct. 29, according to Terra Brasil Notícias. Before, the show was rated free for all ages and could air at any hour. It is now not recommended for children under 12, and the recommendation is that it air from 8 p.m. on broadcast TV. The ministry's stated reasons are “criminal acts, legal drugs, violence and stigma or prejudice.”
The decision was signed by Eduardo de Araújo Nepomuceno, the ministry's general coordinator of rating policy. The block, produced by Rede Record, premiered in 2003, airs Sundays from 9 to 10:30 a.m., and is directed by Richard Rich. ContraFatos also carried the decision, with the same details.
An advisory rating, not a ban: what changes and what does not
Brazil's “classificação indicativa” is a guide for families, not a censorship order. Since 2016, a Supreme Federal Court ruling has held that the rating is advisory and does not strictly set broadcast times.
A request for a second look exists and has been used. Broadcasters can ask for reconsideration of a rating. Globo did so for its telenovela Quem Ama Cuida, and the ministry refused and kept it at 14. Record itself asked in 2021 for Genesis to drop from 14 to 10, and the request was not granted.
In practice, the label guides scheduling. Under the ministry's Ordinance 1,048/2025, works not recommended for under 12 fall into the slot from 8 p.m.
Bible stories that do not hide sin
The cartoons tell what the text tells. In 1 Samuel 17:48-51, the shepherd David brings down the giant Goliath with a stone and cuts off his head. In Genesis 37:23-28, the brothers sell Joseph to merchants for twenty pieces of silver. In Genesis 4:8, Cain kills Abel in the field. There is violence and sin on those pages because the Bible does not hide human sin.
Desenhos bíblicos na Record tinham classificação livre Foto: Reprodução/Record TV Photo: ContraFatos
The same book that records David's victory records, in 2 Samuel 11 and 12, the king's own adultery and murder, and the prophet Nathan's rebuke. Scripture tells of evil plainly, and families read it with children at home, at church and in Sunday school.
Jezebel, Genesis, Paul and Quem Ama Cuida: what the ministry has ruled before
It is not the first biblical work on Record to move up a bracket. In May 2019, the series Jezabel went from all ages to 12+, according to Observatório da TV. The site, citing Patrícia Kogut's column in O Globo, reported that the ministry pointed to violence and legal drugs.
In March 2021, the ministry rejected Record's request to lower Genesis to 10+. The agency cited “prejudice, trivialization of violence and a sexual situation of strong impact.” The decision was written by Eduardo de Araújo Nepomuceno, the same name on the Bible Cartoons ruling.
In September 2025, the portal NTVB, citing EPLAY, reported that the series Paul, the Apostle had moved to not suitable for under 16, with legal drugs and violence as reasons. Gazeta do Povo had described it as rated for all ages when it premiered in July.
The criteria have not been limited to Record. In September, the same ministry kept Globo's prime-time novela at 14+, citing legal drugs, prejudice, violence and gambling.
A question the case raises, and who answers it
Mercy Herald asks the question the decision puts on the table: is Brazil already living the beginning of persecution and religious intolerance against Christians? The records above and below are left for the reader to weigh.
Federal deputy Delegado Fabio Costa criticized the decision, saying it hits a cartoon based on Bible stories and aimed at children. He said he will take the case to the competent bodies and demand explanations from the ministry. In his view, a similar decision against a production tied to another religion would draw accusations of intolerance.
The debate over faith and government was already heated. On Sept. 19, in Chapecó, Flávio Bolsonaro, the PL presidential candidate, called remarks by Lula about the Catholic Church, made to pastors at the Planalto Palace, a “threat” to religious freedom. Lula answered critics on Oct. 22: “nobody has taken better care of protecting evangelical churches in Brazil than I have”. Theologian Gilson de Souza, of the Comunidade Liberta church, told Brasil de Fato that there is no persecution of evangelical churches and that evangelicals made more gains under Lula's Workers' Party.
What Record can do now
Record can ask the ministry to reconsider, the route set out in the rating guide and used by Globo and by the network itself in other cases. The request goes to the same coordination office that signed the decision.
Meanwhile, the block stays on the Sunday schedule at 9 a.m. Deputy Fabio Costa says his next step is to take the case to the competent bodies.
Brazil's Justice Ministry moved Record Kids: Desenhos Bíblicos from all ages to not recommended for under 12, citing criminal acts, legal drugs, violence and stigma or prejudice.
The decision was signed by Eduardo de Araújo Nepomuceno and published in the federal gazette.
The rating is advisory and recommends airing from 8 p.m. on broadcast TV.
Broadcasters can ask for reconsideration, as Globo and Record have in earlier cases.
What we don't know yet
Whether Record will ask for reconsideration and whether it will change the block's time slot.
Which episodes the ministry reviewed to reach the new bracket.
Which bodies Deputy Fabio Costa will take the case to, and what explanations the ministry will give.
