'Rated R' May Be Coming to a Website Near You

Brits hope to partner with US to police web

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 27, 2008 6:09 PM CST

(Newser) – Calling the Internet a “quite dangerous place,” Britain’s culture secretary says he’ll work with the Obama administration on establishing international guidelines to protect children. One idea under consideration: giving websites film-style ratings, the Telegraph reports. “There is definitely a case for clearer standards online,” said Andy Burnham, adding that America’s “change of administration is a big moment. We have got a real opportunity to make common cause.”

Burnham said other possibilities include requiring Internet service providers to offer kid-friendly services and mandating “take down times,” or deadlines, for sites such as YouTube to remove offensive content once they are alerted. “There is content that should just not be available to be viewed,” the secretary said. “This is not a campaign against free speech. Far from it.”

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Britain culture minister says he believes that new standards of decency need to be applied to the web. (Shutter Stock)

Britain's culture minister is planning to negotiate with Barack Obama's incoming administration to draw up new international rules for English language websites. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Britain's culture minister is planning to negotiate with Barack Obama's incoming administration to draw up new international rules for English language websites. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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This is not a campaign against free speech, far from it. We have got to get better at defining where the public interest lies and being clear about it. - Andy Burnham, to the Telegraph

If you look back at the people who created the internet they talked very deliberately about creating a space that Governments couldn’t reach. I think we are having to revisit that stuff seriously now.
- Andy Burnham, to the Telegraph

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'Rated R' May Be Coming to a Website Near You