Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure appropriate age restrictions are applied to video games and other digital content; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure such age restrictions are enforced.

The Video Recordings Act 1984 requires that all video games for sale in the UK and classified as unsuitable for children carry a European Pan European Games Information (PEGI) age rating. Enforcement is monitored by Trading Standards and any retailer convicted of supplying a PEGI 12, 16 or 18 product to someone not meeting the specific age requirement faces a possible jail term and/or a fine. It is also an offence for companies distributing or retailing games without the appropriate age ratings on them. In the online space, we welcome initiatives such as the International Age Rating Coalition which ensures that games and apps available through many online and mobile storefronts feature PEGI age ratings.

With regards to other digital content, through the Digital Economy Act 2017, we have created the requirement for commercial providers of online pornography to have robust age verification controls to prevent under 18s accessing this material. We will shortly seek Parliamentary approval of the designation of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) as the age verification regulator. The BBFC will monitor and take enforcement action against non compliant sites.