Gordon Brown Jumps On The Bandwagon News
Gwynne Dixon
04/09/2007
The Prime Minister vows to review current legislation regarding the advertising and sale of games to children...
According to reports in the Daily Mirror, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised to review the current laws regarding the sale and advertising of violent computer games to children. Mr. Brown also stated that the issues involved would be put to a 'Citizen's Jury' this week in order to help protect children.
Presumably this means that Mr. Brown whole-heartedly agrees with comments made by Conservative leader David Cameron last week, where he stated in his 'It's Time to Fight Back' mini-manifesto that current regulatory frameworks relating to videogames need to be reviewed.
Mr. Brown made the following comments to the Daily Mirror regarding 'violent' computer games: "Parents are concerned about whether children are exposed to harmful violence and sexual imagery in games and on the internet."
However, exactly what he means by 'violent' is unclear, as games that are deemed too violent for children already have 18+ ratings from the British Board of Film Classifications. Interestingly, the BBFC defended their current classification system for games after the Conservatives criticised it.
Prior to these comments from Mr. Brown, it appeared as if the Government supported the BBFC regulations currently in place when the Department of Culture, Media and Sport told MCV last week: "We have a strict enforcement code for people who supply '18' or '15' rated games to children. Adults can make their own decisions which games to play, as they can which films to watch."