New Inquiry into Risks of Games Launched
Date: Thursday, December 06 @ 10:00:36 UTC
Topic: Off Topic
The UK's Culture, Media and Sport Committee has announced that it has launched a new inquiry into the potential risks from harmful material on the Internet and in videogames.
The CMS Committee, which is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its associated public bodies, said that the inquiry will examine the benefits and opportunities offered to consumers, including children and young people, and the economy by technologies such as the Internet, videogames and mobile phones.
The inquiry will conduct a review of the tools available to consumers and the industry to protect people from potentially harmful content, and the effectiveness of the existing regulatory regime in helping to manage the potential risks from harmful content.
The CMS Committee is particularly interested in the potential risks posed by cyber-bullying, user generated content, including content that glorifies guns and gang violence, the availability of personal information on social networking sites, content that incites racial hatred, extremism or terrorism, and content that exhibits extreme pornography or violence.
The inquiry is separate from the Byron Review, a government report examining the risks to young people from exposure to new technologies.
The CMS Committee, which has issued a call for written submissions from interested parties, says it will accept submissions in response to the Byron Review, but that it intends its inquiry to be broader in scope as it will examine the impact of content on consumers in general, rather than focusing solely on the impact on children and young people. Submissions should be submitted by the end of January 2008, with oral evidence sessions due to be held in February and March 2008.
News-Source: Next-Gen
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