Code of conduct promises safer surfing for kids

 

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By Simon Aughton

Posted on 18 Feb 2008 at 11:47

A group of leading online content providers have committed to guidelines that will see them flag material that may be unsuitable for children.

The guidelines, which have been endorsed by the BBC, Channel 4, Google and Yahoo among others, will only apply to commercially produced content and so will not affect user generated content on sites such as YouTube.

Under the new guidelines content providers must ensure they provide information that "gives adequate information to enable the user to make an informed choice about whether or not to access the content".

The guidelines are a response to the rise of on-demand content, which is swiftly making the concept of the watershed redundant.

"Consumers want clear information to help them make more informed choices," says Antony Walker, chief executive of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, which was behind the code's introduction.

"These principles set out the underlying approach that content providers are taking so that consumers get the information they need, and in a way that makes sense to them across different media platforms."