BBFC Marks First Online App Classification

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has awarded a U classification to a children's app, marking the first time the board has classified an app as part of its online-classification service.

A subscription-based TV and learning app for children aged 2-6, Hopster was developed in accordance with the UK Early Years Foundation and is available for iPad.
It provides more than 1,000 episodes of preschool TV content, plus learning games for children. All Hopster content has been classified U by the BBFC, in line with the BBFC Classification Guidelines.
The BBFC's service for online content was launched in collaboration with the home entertainment industry in 2008. It provides age ratings, symbols and BBFCinsight to set-top box, video-on-demand and other online content providers.
David Austin, Assistant Director, BBFC, said: "Age rating the Hopster app for children is a further demonstration of how classification can be used to help parents ensure their children are consuming age appropriate material online.
"We saw our online classification work double during 2013 compared to 2012 in terms of the number of online works we classified and a similar increase was seen in the number of companies submitting work to us.
"Our recent research into public attitudes to classification showed real concern amongst parents about what their children are exposed to online and it is encouraging to work with content providers, like Hopster, who provide a service in which parents can be confident their children are consuming age appropriate material."
www.bbfc.co.uk
(IT/JP)