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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, this amendment would ensure that consumer advice is added to every video work, along with the classification. The inclusion of voluntary consumer advice has become widespread and provides a useful tool for consumers. The type of material a person finds offensive or unpleasant varies enormously. Some people object to watching violence while finding explicit sexuality acceptable. Others are exactly the opposite. Many parents would not mind their children being exposed to a single use of a swear-word but would find a profanity-filled film too much. Consumer advice is a quick and simple way to see what sort of material triggered the classification. Since the BBFC automatically writes consumer advice for every work it classifies and the size of the classification label remains the same whether or not the advice is included, it is no surprise that the majority of major producers include the advice as a matter of course. Indeed, it is hard to think of a reason why a producer would not include the advice except where, as has happened occasionally, it is to the production company’s commercial advantage that people do not know the full story about what they are buying. I beg to move.