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Concern over kids accessing MA15+ content online

Parents are reminded supervision is an important part of online use, including catch-up sites.

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SBS has talked down suggestions children have open access to adult content on SBS On Demand.

A News Corp article suggests “any child with an email address can access ­mature-age content on SBS On Demand and ABC iView.”

But an SBS spokesman said users creating accounts needed to enter their birth dates and were warned that not all content was appropriate for children.

“SBS does not broadcast content which exceeds MA15+ on any of its free-to-air platforms, including SBS On Demand,” the spokesman said.

“SBS also requires users to create an account to access SBS On Demand and its terms and conditions of use highlight the need for parental supervision for content that may not appropriate for children.”

Cyber safety expert Sharon McLean said, “On free to air TV, the adult content has to come on after 9.30pm at night, but the other platforms don’t because they can put what they watch whenever they want online.”

However those times are incorrect.

Since November 2015 M rated content can  be screened from 7:30pm, with MA15+ content from 8:30pm.

It’s not clear why other networks including Seven and TEN, which also screen MA15+ content were overlooked in the story. 9NOW requires a sign-up using a date of birth and email.

Foxtel has hefty Parental Controls for its subscribers, while an audit on Netflix classifications is underway.

The article claims ABC did not respond to requests for comment.

9 Responses

  1. The networks don’t seem to care either. Since the relaxing of the guidelines, they’ve stopped issuing warnings prior to a programme going to air, instead opting for a little classification box in the top left corner (with barely legible viewer advice, especially on the SD channels). They no longer display the classifiable elements after the break either (A for adult themes, L for coarse language etc.).

    Call me old fashioned, but I think the cautions should be brought back, especially now that adult content can be broadcast earlier than ever before.

    1. None of the commercial networks air full screen / voice over classifications before programs now (since the updated code removed that clause).

      Nine & Ten’s are almost impossible to read, as well as “blink and you’ll miss them” in the corners.

    1. As usual it’s up to everyone else to raise your children, no has any responsibility anymore, for example Target Australia doesn’t sell Grand Theft Auto V cause it’s not family friendly and yet you can buy any season of Game of Thrones.

  4. And… what does News Corp expect? Of course kids will lie, duh. Any kid under 13 is trained by nature to lie to access anything online, I know, I did it along with all my peers. Age gates are only there to cover the website owners, they do nothing and will never do nothing.
    Take porn, any kid can access porn if they really want too, that’s the key thing here, if a kid wants to gain access, they will.
    Is News Corp acting like tweens and teens across the nation aren’t pirating Game of Thrones and Walking Dead en-mass? Because they are.

    Email sign ups do nothing but annoy the innocent, bother the old and cause 2 seconds of delay to kids getting what they want. They can’t stop a kid accessing something on catch-up and even if they could (which they can’t), the kid would just go download it elsewhere making the whole thing pointless.
    It’s the nature of the internet to be free,…

  5. A Limited News article having a go at Aus public broadcasters? That’s not something you see every day. Well, not *every* day.

    That anyone can access ­mature-age content is a feature of the internet and nothing to do with television networks.

  6. “It’s not clear why other networks including Seven and TEN, which also screen MA15+ content were overlooked in the story.”

    On the contrary, I think it’s pretty clear…

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