Broadcasting Code

Section 319 of the Communications Act 2003 makes it the duty of OFCOM to set, and from time to time to review and revise, such standards for the content of programmes to be included in television and radio services as appear to them best calculated to secure the standards objectives, and those standards set by OFCOM under this section must be contained in one or more codes. The standards objectives listed in the Act include that persons under the age of eighteen are protected, that material likely to encourage or to incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder is not included in television and radio services, that news is presented with due impartiality and reported with due accuracy, that proper responsibility is exercised over religious programme content, and that generally accepted standards provide adequate protection from offensive and harmful material.

Ofcom, the regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, is the body responsible for drawing up and enforcing this code against licensed broadcasters. In setting or revising the standards, Ofcom must have regard to factors such as the degree of harm or offence likely to be caused by particular material, the likely size and composition of the audience, and the desirability of maintaining editorial independence over programme content, and the resulting code sets minimum standards applicable to all programmes as well as further standards for particular types of programme or service.