UK Plan To Introduce Music Video Age Ratings

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) have revealed plans to install an age-rating system for online videos as soon as possible. 2013 saw controversy erupt over several clips deemed to be overly sexually explicit, including videos by Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, and Rihanna.

As The Guardian reports, BBFC assistant director David Austin has said that the organisation would be responding to continued pressure from parent and special interest groups, who’ve long expressed concern over having sexual imagery freely available to children with internet access.

On Monday, the BBFC issued new classification guidelines based on consultation with over 10,000 people, which stated, “The classification of a music video will take account of any elements which are of concern to parents, including glamorisation of behaviour which they consider inappropriate.”

In organising the guidelines, the BBFC fielded complaints from concerned parents who said some music videos were “just porn,” while other videos were showing “the use of drugs and self-harm,” that they’re concerned will lead children to think “this is normal and this is how you want to be.”

Austin said that the board had already begun reviewing videos by Metallica, Robbie Williams, and Beyonce, submitted to them on a voluntary basis, and that they have been working with the UK’s music industry body, the BPI, and Google to explore how online classification might work.

“Google has said that if we start to age-rate videos, they will carry the BBFC age rating,” Austin said. “They’ve also said they will look at the possibility of parental controls in relation to age rating.” However Austin said that questions remain over how to rate videos created abroad.

“In order for such for age ratings to be really effective, BPI believes that they need to be accompanied by automatic filters that parents can activate to ensure that their children only view age-appropriate material online,” said a BPI spokesman, leaving uncertainty about internationally-produced clips, such as that for Robin Thicke’s controversial hit single Blurred Lines.

Despite this, Rewind & Reframe, who campaign against sexist and racist music videos, were enthused by the BBFC’s initiative. Spokeswoman Sarah Green said that the content of music videos had become a “race to the bottom” and was not only of concern to parents but to women as well.

“[Our new guidelines] reflect explicitly concerns raised by the public during the 2013 consultation and will, I believe, ensure that we continue to be in step with what the public wants and expects in order to make sensible and informed viewing decisions,” said BBFC’s director David Cooke.

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