UK Mobile Operators Address Adult Content

10 February 2005

The organization appointed by the England's six mobile operators to design a classification system for adult-only commercial content this week published its framework. Eight general content categories have been rated as adult-only, and any such content in the form of still pictures, video and audiovisual material or mobile games should be appropriately rated so that it can be placed behind access controls and made available only to adults.

The group that produced the classification system is the Independent Mobile Classification Body (IMCB), a not-for-profit company formed as a subsidiary of the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS). The group's guidelines were designed to be as consistent as possible with standards formed by similar bodies performing the same role for other forms of media, such the British Board of Film Classification and the Interactive Software Federation of Europe/Pan-European Game Information for Mobile Games.

Gambling services do not fall under the scope of the classification system because they are already age-restricted by U.K. legislation. However, content that encourages or promotes gambling or other activities that are restricted to those under the age of 18 will be labeled as adult-only. Such content falls under the first category of adult-rated content, which deals with adult-only themes. The other categories are repetitive foul language, sex, nudity, violence, drugs, horror and imitable techniques (or detailed descriptions of illustrations of techniques that could be used in a criminal offense).

All six of the mobile operators have agreed to make adult-labeled content inaccessible to minors, but it is the content providers who are expected to label their content accordingly. The mobile operators can address instances of misclassification through their contract arrangements with the content providers.

It is important to note that when the mobile operator is providing Internet or WAP connectivity, the content that is accessed does not fall under the scope of the classification system. The mobile operators do, however, provide filtering services to address adult-content on the Web when the parent requests.

Click here to view the IMCB Guide and Classification Framework.