Senior Policy & Communications Officer Hanno Fenech examines the Government’s review of video-sharing online and explains how IPSO enforces the rules of the Editors’ Code of Practice for videos hosted on newspaper and magazine websites.
The Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) recently commissioned a review of the contemporary landscape of online video sharing across search and social media platforms. The report analyses growth and innovation in the sector in the context of forthcoming Online Safety legislation, requiring platforms protect users from certain types of harmful content (you can read more on IPSO’s responses to Online Safety including responses to the Online Harms White Paper and publishing blogs on future developments for the proposals on our website).
The report found that platforms with video-sharing capabilities have changed significantly in recent years, with UK users consuming 213 billion videos in 2020 alone and increasing their video consumption by 8% per week.
The researchers also analysed the measures currently in place to protect users from harmful video content. They found that measures are varied, both in procedure and level of funding, from platform to platform. They concluded with a survey showing that nearly 60% of UK adults think video-sharing platforms are not doing enough to keep illegal content off their platforms.
As the independent regulator of the majority the UK press, IPSO is already a significant online regulator with remit covering editorial content in-print and online. IPSO regulates the online versions of member newspapers and magazines, as well as a growing number of online-only publications, to upholds the high journalistic standards of the Editors’ Code of Practice. The Code applies to editorial material, meaning content such as news, headlines, comment and reportage over which an editor has control. It protects the rights of the individual, such as the right to privacy and protection from press intrusion, and ensures accuracy while upholding freedom of expression. These rules apply equally to written content and to visual, including images or videos which are embedded or accompanying a story.
For further information, including IPSO rulings which involve online video footage, read more here and on the IPSO website.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation C.I.C. is a Community Interest Company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with registered number 02538908.
