If a food product is labelled sugar-free, it won’t contain sugar; if a toy is labeled suitable for three year olds it won’t include small parts and if a DVD carries a ‘U’ label, you can safely leave your children in front of the TV while you do some chores around the home.
But if an app downloaded from an app store carries a PEGI 3 or PEGI 7 label it might not be suitable for primary age children at all. How unsuitable could it be? Well, in the last six months PEGI 3 rated games have been available for download which contain graphic horror, sexual content and violent threats to kill.
I first became aware of the issue by accident when a harmless looking game my son was playing turned out to be laden with sexual innuendo. I was surprised but not unduly worried since my son was 13 at the time and probably only downloaded the app when he was 11. What did shock me was that the game was rated PEGI 7.
After reporting the app, I received a personal apology from the Video Standards Council (PEGI co-adminstrators with Dutch agency NICAM) who subsequently re-rated it as PEGI 12.
The government tell me that this is evidence that the reporting system works. The app had been available for FOUR YEARS and downloaded MILLIONS of times. It is still available with no sign that the developers have been penalised for misrepresenting the app for years.
When I looked deeper into the issue I found that this was by no means a one off and that there were apps featuring drinking games and graphic horror footage carrying the PEGI 3 rating. Even developers who had deliberately ripped off legitimate apps and recorded threats to kill the listener were sporting a bona fide PEGI 3 rating.
The government know that these apps are slipping through the PEGI net. They have told me that there are simply too many apps being created to regulate. Yet they are happy to allow these apps to display an official age rating. What’s more, they set up bodies and encourage other organisations to persuade us that we should trust the PEGI rating.
If your child receives a stab threat from their favourite cartoon character, if they are introduced to themes around bondage and oral sex at the age of seven or if they sit through a video of Jason Voorhees decapitating and impaling his victims it seems that this is a risk the government are willing to take with your children rather than dare to interfere in the booming trade in digital apps.
The government know there is a problem, they know innocent children are being put at risk yet they are choosing to allow the PEGI system to slap age-appropriate labels on a product based only on the say so of faceless developers, a naïve trust in technology and the hope that parents might stumble across and report inappropriate content.
That’s not regulation, that’s a disgrace – and parents need to start demanding a more robust system. More people checking games, better technology, more sanctions against irresponsible developers, more hurdles between developers and our youngest children.
I don’t know what the technical folk behind the scenes need to do to tighten things up. It could be as simple as a tweak of an algorithm here or there or it could require a root and branch reform of the whole IARC and PEGI ratings system. Ultimately it is about putting children’s needs for a psychologically healthy and physically safe upbringing ahead of the rights of app developers to pump their products into the marketplace.