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BBC IPlayer

Children's charities ask the BBC to make it harder for children to access adult shows on iPlayer

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By Gillian West, Social media manager

June 17, 2013 | 2 min read

The BBC is being asked to make it harder for children to access gory shows and adult materials on its website.

Critics have voiced concerns that the iPlayer has made the watershed redundant as children only need to tick a box saying they are 16+ to access violent shows such as Ripper Street and The Fall.

Kidscape director Claude Knights commented: "iPlayer has in a sense circumvented the watershed. It is really completely wrong to say we have a watershed anymore. Parents need support and help. They need to understand, they don't always know what youngsters are doing, or indeed understand if they are doing X and Y how to protect them from that.

"So many parents claim not to have enough information about parental controls…certainly parents need to play a part, but yes, the iPlayer mechanism needs to address it too."

Knights added: "The more difficult you make something, obviously you will stop a percentage of the viewing."

Pressure group Mediawatch has backed these calls, speaking of the issue the group's Vivienne Pattison said: "I have been talking about the BBC having tougher safeguards for its iPlayer programmes for years but always get the same response: that it has to be something that seriously harms the mental or physical health of a child and nothing on the iPlayer will do this."

Under 16s have even criticised the 'tick box' method online for being too easy.

Currently the iPlayer does offer parents the option to set their own Parental Guidance Lock if they are concerned about what their children are accessing with a BBC spokesperson stating the iPlayer "has controls in place to safeguard children".

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