The government has been criticised for reported plans to allow
online platforms to set their own rules regarding age verification
to protect children from online harms.
Lord Tim Clement-Jones, the Liberal Democrat spokesman in the Lords
on digital issues, says it is "extraordinary that the Government
simply expects companies to use compliance tools without having
brought in the Age Verification provisions of the Digital Economy
Act which, were due to be regulated by the BBFC."
His comments follow an answer to a question in the Lords (1) by
, Minister for
Civil Society and DCMS, that the government "expect companies to
use a proportionate range of tools."
He has tabled a further question for oral answer (2) to explore the
future of Age Verification under the new online harm/duty of care
proposals which are due to be part of the Government's forthcoming
response to the Online Harms White paper. He said: "There is a
strong suspicion that these have been shelved entirely and it is
only social media who will be the subject of the duty of care."
Notes
1. Question on 9 November by :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of
whether the filters adopted by mobile network operators based on
British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) guidelines, and
regulated by the BBFC, could be supported and promoted as a best
practice.
Answered by on 11
November 2020:
Protecting children is at the heart of our online harms agenda,
and wider government priorities. The government has worked hard
to ensure content is filtered in public places where children are
likely to be, as well as at home.
The BBFC provides an independent framework for mobile network
operators and defines content that is unsuitable for customers
under the age of 18 based on their Classification Guidelines for
film and video. Like current device level filters, and the
filters used by every school in the country, filter software is
provided to Internet Service Providers by well-established web
filtering companies. There are no plans to require other
providers of family friendly filters to use the BBFC’s framework.
Our forthcoming online harms proposals will deliver a higher
level of protection for children than for the typical adult user.
We expect companies to use a proportionate range of tools,
including age assurance and age verification technologies, to
prevent children accessing age-inappropriate adult content and to
protect them from other harms.
2. Question for oral answer on 8 December on streaming platforms
():
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the partnership between Netflix and the British Board of Film
Classification to establish age ratings for streaming platforms;
and what plans they have to encourage other streaming platforms
to adopt such ratings
