In a statement, Rotten Tomatoes said it was expanding the criteria required to be a “Tomatometer-approved critic”. Previously, the “fresh” or “rotten” rankings on the site have always been created by aggregating reviews from various pre-approved written publications.

Now, however, those rankings will include reviews from smaller new media platforms such as blogs, podcasts and streaming shows.

The company said this would bring in more reviews by women and people of colour, rather than allowing the viewpoints of white men working at prominent publications to be prioritised. Over 200 new Tomatometer-approved critics have already been added to the site’s roster of reviewers.

Rotten Tomatoes also said it would be giving $100,000 (£76,870) to non-profit organisations to help women and people of colour offset the cost of attending film festivals. The first $25,000 (£19,220) will go towards sending diverse critics to the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in September.

The gender imbalance at Rotten Tomatoes has been under scrutiny for some time. Meryl Streep called out the dearth of female critics featured on the site in 2015, arguing that the imbalance was negatively affecting the success of women-centric films.

“I submit to you that men and women are not the same, they like different things,” she said. “Sometimes they like the same thing but sometimes their tastes diverge. If the Tomatometer is slighted so completely to one set of tastes, that drives box office … absolutely.”

Why you’ll soon be seeing more reviews by women on Rotten Tomatoes