Music videos made in the UK will now be given an online age rating as part of a government push to help parents prevent their children viewing inappropriate content on the internet.
The system was first introduced as a pilot scheme in October 2014, but will now be officially implemented for all videos from participating record labels. Under the new arrangement, music videos produced by major UK record labels will be submitted to the British Board of Film Classification just like new cinema releases and DVDs.
So far, 132 videos have been classified, with only one – Dizzee Rascal's ultra-violent Couple of Stacks – given an 18 rating. The video, which is filmed in the style of a horror movie, shows the rapper maiming and torturing a string of victims.
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Baroness Shields, minister for internet safety and security, is adamant that the new system is useful and necessary. "Keeping children safe as they experience and enjoy all the benefits the internet has to offer is a key priority," she said in a statement.
However, since announcing the initiative, Shields has fielded criticism not only from music industry professionals, but also fellow politicians.
Crucially, only videos produced in the UK will be submitted to the BBFC. This means that most of the controversial videos of recent years, such as Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke or Rihanna's Better Have My Money, would be unaffected by the changes.
"This policy seems to have more holes than Swiss cheese," said Labour shadow culture minister Chris Bryant, expressing concerns that the restrictive policy might encourage record labels to produce their music videos outside the UK.
British singer FKA Twigs is also among those dubious about the new system. "I guess with my videos we're talking directly about sexuality and there's nothing wrong with that," she told the BBC. "We're not living in Victorian Britain; do we want to be repressed?"
IT news site The Register was equally unimpressed, arguing that underage viewers would easily find ways to bypass the restrictions. "The blocking of music on sites might not succeed in modifying teens' appetite for 'your mother wouldn't like it' type music," it observed. "But it could help educate them in the mastery of VPNs, TOR and Torrents."
