Harmful Content

Ofcom's Broadcasting Code sets out the standards UK broadcasters must meet to protect audiences from harmful and offensive material. Section Two of the Code, headed 'Harm and offence', requires generally accepted standards to be applied to television and radio content so that members of the public receive adequate protection, and the section must be read alongside Section One, which protects under-eighteens specifically.

The Code does not treat all potentially disturbing material as automatically prohibited. Instead, broadcasters must ensure that anything liable to cause offence — including violence, sexual content, offensive language, or discriminatory treatment — is justified by its context, taking into account factors such as the scheduling of the programme, the likely size and composition of the audience, and how far the nature of the content has been signalled to viewers in advance.

A specific rule targets content that could encourage imitation of dangerous conduct: programmes must not include material that condones or glamorises violent, dangerous, or seriously antisocial behaviour in a way likely to encourage others to copy it, and methods of suicide or self-harm may only be shown where editorially and contextually justified. The Code's harm and offence rules are underpinned by the Communications Act 2003, which requires Ofcom to set standards for the content of television and radio services.