MPs slam YouTube for not doing enough to protect children

They criticise it for not effectively screening videos for sexual and violent content, which in one case led to film of an apparent gang rape not being taken down until it had been seen by hundreds of users.

And the all-party Commons culture committee said it was ‘unimpressed’ that YouTube made no attempt to vet clips posted by users.

Hideous: An online clip posted after the killing of schoolboy Rhys Jones

The MPs said they were shocked to find material containing child abuse could take up to 24 hours to remove.

Their report warned of a ‘dark side’ to the internet, where hardcore pornography and videos of fights, bullying or alleged rape can be found, as well as websites promoting extreme diets, self-harm and suicide.

It cited research showing that 16 per cent of eight to 15 year olds have come across ‘nasty, worrying or frightening’ content online, and 20 per cent have suffered cyber bullying.

Committee chairman John Whittingdale called for the industry to block websites which promote suicide, in the same way that it does for child pornography sites.

Urgent action was needed following the deaths in Bridgend, South Wales, which he said may have been affected by suicide websites.

The MPs said websites should make it easier to report offensive videos, such as by having a screen link to law enforcement authorities.

The industry should also be encouraged to age classify sites and even impose watersheds like TV, so offensive material could not be viewed before a certain time.

Mr Whittingdale, a Conservative, expressed concern over the virtual world websites. He said there were cases of two adults entering these imaginary worlds, one as an adult and one as a child, and then having virtual sex.

Mr Whittingdale said the committee had heard from police experts that such people were likely to go on to commit real child sex offences.

He added: ‘The internet is overwhelmingly a force for good.

‘However, there is a dark side and many parents are rightly anxious about the dangers to their children that may be lurking within.

‘The vast majority of the industry is keen to be seen to be acting responsibly and companies have already put in place a wide range of measures to protect vulnerable people from harm. However, more needs to be done.’

He called for the industry to set up a board to regulate itself, based on the Advertising Standards Authority. Such a body would be ‘vastly preferable’ to statutory controls, he added.

The report also looked at video games, and the MPs backed Government plans to bring in film classification symbols.

A spokesman for YouTube said: ‘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.

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

‘Currently we review around half all flagged material within half an hour, and the large majority within an hour.’

• YouTube ran into trouble in Italy yesterday when the television company of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi sued it for ‘at least’ £400million.

Mr Berlusconi’s Mediaset group said it was seeking damages from YouTube and its owner Google for ‘illegal distribution and commercial use of audio and video files’.

It claimed a trawl through the YouTube site on June 10 revealed 325 hours of Mediaset material.

YouTube is already facing a £500million copyright infringement suit from Viacom, which owns MTV and Paramount Pictures.

A YouTube spokesman said there was no need for legal action and said it removed all copyright material as soon as it was notified.