Hansard

I congratulate Stewart Maxwell on bringing this extremely important debate to Parliament. I also pay tribute to the preceding speakers in the debate, who have made some excellent points.

The fact that children and young people are accessing potentially harmful content online is a matter that concerns us all. That is particularly the case with music videos, given their wide-ranging popularity and the fact that, until very recently, they did not have age ratings. Parents are clearly right to be worried about the ease of access to such videos and the challenges that that presents, as Christina McKelvie has just set out.

It is well known that some music videos contain explicit violent and sexual imagery that is totally unsuitable, so it is of paramount importance that parents are empowered with the tools—which Graeme Pearson spoke about—to enable them to make informed choices for their children.

Stewart Maxwell’s motion refers to the research that the BBFC has undertaken, stating that

“78% of parents value age ratings on online ... videos”.

In addition, 70 per cent of parents of children under the age of 12 are worried about their children being exposed to inappropriate content. Further, the BBFC found that as many as 60 per cent of the children who were surveyed said that they had watched music videos that they know their parents would not approve of. The message is coming from children just as much as from adults, and the combination of the views of parents and their children can take us quite a long way forward in trying to address the issue.

In October 2014, the UK Government launched its pilot programme—as Stewart Maxwell mentioned—in conjunction with Vevo, YouTube and the major UK music labels to introduce the new ratings system. The early signs are that that is proving to be very successful. I am pleased that that successful pilot scheme has captured the imagination of other parts of the music industry in the UK. I take this opportunity to commend the BBFC, YouTube and Vevo, as well as the wider UK music industry, for the voluntary proactive role that they have played. The people who have come to the Parliament to help us become more informed about the matter also deserve great credit.

Classification is a positive step in preventing children from viewing harmful content online. Christina McKelvie made an important point in that regard about children being able to understand the choices that they have to make, which is something that has to get back to parents. Graeme Pearson made the perhaps ageist but nonetheless sensible point that we should be taking advice from those who are perhaps a bit closer to the issue than some of the rest of us.

Of course, that is not to say that there is not a great deal more work to do. One vital step is to ensure that age ratings are linked to online parental controls. Stewart Maxwell mentioned the phone companies’ activities, which are also very positive.

I warmly welcome the progress that has been made to date.