Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham, Greg Hands, has welcomed the news that Baroness Shields, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Internet Safety and Security, is announcing plans to protect children from viewing age-inappropriate music videos online.
While films in the cinema and DVDs are age-rated in an effort to inform viewers and to assist parents in making informed choices, children have easy access to age-inappropriate music videos online that often have no rating.
That is why in October 2014 a Government-backed pilot to introduce age ratings for online music videos was launched by the BBFC and BPI in conjunction with Vevo, YouTube, and major UK music labels. Building on this pilot, the Government has now agreed with the UK music industry that measures trialled will now be made permanent for videos produced in the UK by artists who are represented by major labels. In addition to working with major UK music labels, the Government is also working with independent UK music labels to introduce age ratings on their content in a six-month pilot phase.
In response to the proposals, Greg Hands said, “Keeping children safe as they experience and enjoy all the benefits the internet has to offer is a key priority for this Government’s One Nation approach to helping families across Britain, and this is of particular importance to me as the father of two young children.”
The Government will continue to work with industry to develop ways to help parents better protect their children online from inappropriate music videos with explicit adult or violent content.