Burnham backs code to tackle online sex and violence

The government yesterday signalled its support for a common set of standards for internet content in response to worries about the impact of violent and sexual output online.

The culture secretary, Andy Burnham, said he wanted to see online content meet the same standards required for television as the boundaries between the two media continue to blur. Television in the UK is governed by the broadcasting code of Ofcom, the media regulator. There is no overall regulation for the internet.

"In the same way that there are standards that are essential to broadcasting, in this converging world I believe there should be a set of standards online," Burnham told a media seminar in London.

He also floated the idea that websites such as the video-sharing portal YouTube should include warnings on clips which include bad language, violence or sex. "If a clip on YouTube gets a million hits, it is akin to broadcasting and it doesn't seem to me to be too difficult to have an alert on that clip with regards to language or violence or for sex. That to me is not overly intrusive."

Referring to the recent government report by the child psychologist Tanya Byron, on the effects of the internet and video gaming on children, which raised concerns about a "climate of anxiety", Burnham added that people felt "a sense of risk and uncertainty about this world they are roaming".

He denied his focus on internet standards was due to the subject being a potential vote winner. It was, he said, a reaction to public concern. "I just sense the moment in time where people need to have this kind of discussion about the online world. There is an unease out there about it. What I am challenging is this slight sense of helplessness."

However it was not the government's policy to "react to the challenge of the change the internet presents by retreating to a position of protectionism or heavy regulation". Burnham also pledged to introduce laws banning product placement on British television. It is thought a European directive due to come in to force soon will open the door to the practice.

Product placement, whereby manufacturers pay producers to show their goods on shows, is prohibited by Ofcom, but ITV and the advertising industry have been pushing for the rules to be relaxed.

But Burnham said there should be a firm line between editorial content and advertising. "There is a risk that product placement exacerbates this decline in trust [in television] and contaminates our programmes," he said. The UK advertisers' trade body ISBA said Burnham's stance was a "lost opportunity" to help fund British TV.

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