It's official - YouTube to display age ratings on videos

YouTube and Vevo have said that they will show clear age ratings on music videos as part of a government backed scheme to prevent children viewing unsuitable content online.

Last week, the department for culture, media and sport announced that, together with UK record labels, it had decided to implement age ratings for online music videos following a pilot scheme launched by the BBFC and BPI in autumn last year.

Under the new agreement, UK labels provide the videos ahead of release to the BBFC. They then communicate the rating and guidance decided by the BBFC when releasing their videos to Vevo and YouTube, who in turn show the ratings on the videos.

Baroness Joanna Shields, Minister for Internet Safety and Security, said:

“Movies in the cinema and music DVDs are age rated to inform the viewer and help parents to make informed choices. We welcome this voluntary step from industry to bring internet services in line with the offline world.

“Keeping children safe as they experience and enjoy all the benefits the Internet has to offer is a key priority for this Government’s One Nation approach to help families across Britain. We will continue to work with industry to develop ways to help parents to better protect children online from inappropriate music videos with explicit adult or violent content.”