Media Regulators Launch ParentPort

UK media regulators joined forces this week to launch a new website aimed at helping parents make their views heard on issues relating to inappropriate programmes, adverts, products and services.
ParentPort has been set up to make it easier for parents to complain about material they have seen or heard across the media, communications and retail industries.
The website has been jointly developed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD), the BBC Trust, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) and the Video Standards Council (VSC)/Pan-European Game Information (PEGI).
It has been created in response to Reg Bailey’s Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood, which recommended that regulators should work together to create a single website to act as an interface between themselves and parents.
ParentPort provides straightforward information on what parents can do if they feel they have seen or heard something inappropriate for their children. The site makes the process of making a complaint easier by directing parents to the right regulator for their specific area of concern.
The website also provides a ‘Have Your Say’ section, which allows parents to provide informal feedback and comments which regulators will use as an extra gauge of parental views. There’s also advice on how to keep children safe online and what parents can do about other products like clothing and the display of magazines in shops.
Speaking at a No.10 summit on the progress being made against Reg Bailey’s recommendations, Chief Executive of Ofcom, Ed Richards, said: "Seven UK media regulators have come together to develop a single website, with a single aim – to help protect children from inappropriate material.
"Each regulator shares this common purpose and is committed to helping parents make their views and concerns known. We have already tested the website with parents and the feedback has been positive. We will keep listening to parents and intend to develop the site in light of further feedback."
Letting Children Be Children: the Report of an Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood was published on 6 June 2011.
(BMcN/BMcC)