The UK talk about music videos and sex takes a step toward action with a proposal to amend the 1984 Video Recordings Act, which failed to imagine a future where media isn't consumed via physical formats, or the emergence of full-scale nudity in music videos.
The '84 act stipulated that any movies you buy or rent on DVD, BluRay, VHS, etc, must be rated by the British Board of Film Classification, ranging from Suitable For All to Suitably Only For Adults, with stopovers at ages 12 and 15 (which are essentially the equivalent of PG and PG-13). The proposed change would broaden the net to also cover content that's viewed and/or distributed online.
The other change deal with the actual content itself. Long exempt from the act, however, have been products which are primarily about music, sports, religion and education. That could be changing for music videos that meet any of the below criteria:
(a) it depicts or promotes violence or threats of violence;
(b) it depicts the immediate aftermath of violence on human or animal characters;
(c) it depicts an imitable dangerous activity without also depicting that the activity may endanger the welfare or health of a human or animal character;
(d) it promotes an imitable dangerous activity;
(e) it depicts or promotes activities involving illegal drugs or the misuse of drugs;
(f) it promotes the use of alcohol or tobacco;
(g) it depicts or promotes suicide or attempted suicide, or depicts the immediate aftermath of such an event;
(h) it depicts or promotes any act of scarification or mutilation of a person, or of self-harm, or depicts the immediate aftermath of such an act;
(i) it depicts techniques likely to be useful in the commission of offences or, through its depiction of criminal activity, promotes the commission of offences;
(j) it includes words or images intended or likely to convey a sexual message (ignoring words or images depicting any mild sexual behaviour);
(k) it depicts human sexual activity (ignoring any depictions of mild sexual activity);
(l) it depicts or promotes acts of force or restraint associated with human sexual activity;
(m) it depicts human genital organs or human urinary or excretory functions (unless the depiction is for a medical, scientific or educational purpose);
(n) it includes swearing (ignoring any mild bad language); or
(o) it includes words or images that are intended or likely (to any extent) to cause offence, whether on the grounds of race, gender, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation, or otherwise.
In other words: If your video has any of that content — which ranges from horribly vague to grossly specific — then it could be restricted to kids above the age of 12, or to those 18 and up.
All that applies solely to content in the UK, but it stands to reason that content producers would change their strategies — especially if clicking to watch content that's even remotely adult involved stringent age verification.
Read more at gov.uk...
