MPs urge YouTube to crack down on videos

 

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Posted on 31 Jul 2008 at 11:03

MPs have warned video-sharing websites, such as YouTube, that they need to do more to protect the public from the "dark side" of the internet. Tighter controls on pornography and images of child abuse must be enforced, the MPs said.

According to a report published by Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport Committee, sites are unwittingly publishing child abuse or other illegal content posted by users.

YouTube has responded negatively to the message from Parliament, claiming their demands are impossible to implement. The website said 10 hours of material is added every minute - a defence that legislators rejected, claiming that some other site already vet content.

"To plead that the volume of traffic prevents screening of content is clearly not correct," the committee said in its report. "Providers such as MySpace have not been deterred from reviewing material posted on their sites.

"Pro-active review of contents should be standard practice for sites hosting user-generated content."

The committee revealed that the need for change was incited by a video posted on YouTube of an alleged gang rape. The video was viewed 600 times before being removed.

YouTube's owner Google argued that sites should not have to check all content, citing that telephone companies and email providers do not monitor all traffic.

However, MPs retorted that phone calls and emails are typically meant to remain private, whereas user-generated content is deliberately put into the public domain.

They requested that sites hire extra staff to pre-check material and use better automatic filters. The committee said it wants the industry to adopt tighter self-regulation rather than introduce laws to clamp down on the sites.

Committee Chairman John Whittingdale said the internet industry has a duty to protect vulnerable people.

"The internet...is overwhelmingly a force for good," he said. "However, there is a dark side and many parents are rightly anxious about the dangers to their children."

Google said YouTube already does review half of all content flagged by other users as inappropriate within 30 minutes, and most of the rest within an hour.

"For YouTube we have strict rules on what's allowed, and a system that enables anyone who sees inappropriate content to report it to our 24/7 review team and have it dealt with promptly," the company said in a statement.

"Given the volume of content uploaded on our site, we think this is by far the most effective way to make sure that the tiny minority of videos that break the rules come down quickly."

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota