14 DAY TRIAL // Google gets a little more added to its workload as YouTube will need to display movie-style classification ratings in the United Kingdom. Vevo will also be a part of the pilot of this effort.
The effort seeks to protect children from viewing age-inappropriate content, whether due to violence levels or adult content.
Warner, Universal and Sony will all be working with YouTube and Vevo to design the pilot that will land ratings such as 12, 15 and 18 on various videos. The companies won’t be taking these decisions on their own, but rather submit the controversial clips to the British Board of Film Classification that will issue the age-rating labels.
“Parents are eager to have more input over the types of content their children access, particularly online. By applying understood and trusted BBFC age ratings to online music videos, this pilot is a vital step in meeting this demand for choice and child protection,” said David Austin, assistant director of BBFC, The Independent reports.
This move has been anticipated for a while, especially after David Cameron, the British Prime Minister said that rules for online videos should be brought in line with those that have already been set for TV, film and the music industry.
“Helping families with children and parenting shouldn't stop at childbirth. To take just one example – bringing up children in an Internet age, you are endlessly worried about what they are going to find online,” Cameron said a few months back.
Protecting children while online
There’s been a growing concern that children view content that they shouldn’t while browsing the Internet since there are very few limitations that can be set up. While parental control apps allow users to allow access to some sites and ban it from others, you can’t control what content kids view on the sites that get the green light. While browsing YouTube, for instance, they could end up seeing videos that haven’t been marked as mature even though the content is certainly above the age of the viewer.
“From October, we’re going to help parents protect their children from some of the graphic content in online music videos by working with the British Board of Film Classification, Vevo and YouTube to pilot the age rating of these videos,” Cameron added.
There are plenty of current videos from various stars that aren’t necessarily appropriate for young children to view. While these might not be broadcasted on TV before a certain hour, they’re always available online.