LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 08: Singer Rihanna attends The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards at the STAPLES Center on February 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
LONDON-EXPLICIT music videos are to be given age ratings in an attempted government crackdown on graphic material watched by UK children online.
But the measure will only apply to songs produced in the UK – so there will be no curbs on videos by controversial overseas artists such as Rihanna or Miley Cyrus.
American record labels – or the US arms of global music companies – are responsible for uploading their own content online. That means there will be no classification for US videos that have been criticised in the past for showing nudity and violence.
Rihanna sparked an outcry last month with the video to her song B**** Better Have My Money, involving a gruesome revenge plot in which a housewife is kidnapped, stripped and tortured.
MPs on Tuesday night blasted the policy, saying it had “more holes than Swiss cheese”.
Under the UK scheme, videos produced by labels in Britain will carry the same five ratings as films – Universal (U), Parental Guidance (PG) and age restrictions 12, 15 and 18. Issued by the British Board of Film Classification, they will take violence, sexual content and swearing into account.
Ministers say the move is driven by parents’ concerns that music videos contain lyrics and images unsuitable for youngsters. But with US artists not covered by the measure, many are wondering how effective it will be.
Labour’s culture spokesman Chris Bryant said: “This policy seems to have more holes than Swiss cheese. There will be an incentive for producers to make their videos elsewhere.
“I applaud the Government’s aim but worry that in the execution it will be at best ineffectual and at worst could be counter-productive.”
Claude Knights, boss of the charity Kidscape, added: “The problem is that the internet does not have any frontiers and young people can access content from around the world.
“I’m not sure how introducing ratings only for videos produced in the UK will help matters.“
However, officials say they hope the scheme will put pressure on the US and other countries to implement similar schemes. -IOL
