UK Suggests Implementing Website Rating System

More than 50 years ago the movie industry abandoned the dated, unfriendly censoring method they used called the Production or "Hays" code, for the current system that rates a movie's age appropriateness. It's proven to be successful, and the television and video game industries have adopted their own ratings.

But, wait folks, that's not all, over the holiday weekend Andy Burnham, the United Kingdom culture secretary, suggested that websites also have some kind of rating system, or at least some kind of label that indicates the site's age appropriateness. Or you can just be like China and ban websites all together.



England (and much of the rest of the world) is concerned that some of the images and topics available on the internet are disturbing or inappropriate for children, but how to handle the situation is a very touchy topic.

Rumor has it Burnham is planning, or would like to plan, a joint effort with the new Obama administration for ratings on English language websites. However, Obama ran his campaign as an advocate of net neutrality and even utilized the internet community to successfully secure his seat in the Oval Office.

Whether the President-elect sticks to his word is yet to be seen.

Many advocates believe putting a ratings/censorship/ban on websites is a violation of free speech; whereas others feel it is no different than placing ratings on movies and video games. Interestingly, if you do a simple search for net neutrality, or website rating systems, you'll find more people speaking out against the idea than those embracing it.

Australia is in the process of implementing a controversial nationwide internet filter that is designed to block websites of a questionable nature, like child pornography. It is unlikely the United States will wake up one morning and start assigning website ratings, especially in the early days of a new administration, but as the internet expands don't expect the issue to go away.

There are a number of personal internet filter programs that concerned parents can install on their home computers. These programs filter questionable search terms and URL addresses. Additionally, Windows Vista comes installed with parental time controls, or you can install a third-party parental time control application for additional security.

If you would like to learn more about internet filters for your children see our internet filter reviews and pornography statistics. Or see if your internet filter can handle these rated E for everyone blog posts:

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