LONDON (Reuters) – Britain on Tuesday said it would consult on bringing the rules for on-demand TV services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ into line with traditional broadcasters like the BBC, ITV and Sky.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said audiences could be better protected from harmful material like misinformation and pseudoscience while watching video-on-demand services.
“We want to give UK audiences peace of mind that however they watch TV in the digital age, the shows they enjoy are held to the same high standards that British broadcasting is world-renowned for,” he said.
“It is right that now we have left the EU, we look at introducing proportionate new rules so that UK audiences are protected from harm.”
In 2021, three quarters of households used a subscription video-on-demand service, according to media regulator Ofcom.
The government said some service providers had introduced their own standards and procedures for audience protection – such as age ratings, pin-codes and content warnings – but they were inconsistent.
The consultation closes on Oct. 26, it said.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)
