Are Websites to be Age Restricted?

To all those that thought it was just Australia, think again. UK Culture Secretary Andy Burnham suggests websites should carry film-style restrictions, to better “safeguard” our children (and our children’s children) against unacceptable content.

The UK government is said to be looking into new safeguards after some content, such as clips of beheading on YouTube, was easily accessible by children. Burnham(pictured) is also looking to negotiate international guidelines with the US for English language websites to provide new standards of decency.

Burnham, father of three young children, has said “I think we do need to have a debate now about clearer signposting and labeling online because it can be quite a confusing world, particularly for parents who are trying to ensure their children are only accessing appropriate stuff.”

Whilst we can all agree that there are certain websites that we really wouldn’t want kids looking at, even the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) is calling for heavy handed measures such as computer retailers to install security software as standard.

Diana Sutton, Policy/Public Affairs head of the NSPCC said “It’s one thing to have a political commitment, but it’s much harder to actually enforce it. We want these ideas to have teeth.”

British Telecom, at least, has said it’d have to have a look at Burnham’s plan to see if it was feasible. Personally I’d love to see how Mr. Burnham is going to implement the PG rating, perhaps web cams to sense the Parent/Guardian is watching?

Source: BBC