Tories plan to clamp down on ads targeting children

The Conservatives have published a set of proposals to crack down on companies targeting children through “irresponsible marketing practices and products”.

The move comes after research showed that parents and teachers are increasingly concerned about the way children are targeted with sophisticated adverts.

Nearly nine in 10 adults said that children nowadays are more materialistic than in past generations, which puts pressure on parents to spend more than they can afford and marginalises poorer families.

As part of the Conservative Party's plan to protect children from adverts and promotions it believes unsuitable, it will close a legal loophole that exists on corporate websites. Currently the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) powers only cover paid-for advertising online.

But the Conservatives said that it wants to extend legislation to cover things such as interactive games and other content targeted at children.

It also wants to ban companies from using new peer-to-peer marketing techniques such as viral marketing targeted at children. It said this would include the recruitment of children as ‘brand ambassadors’ through social networking sites such as Bebo.

“We will work with the Committee of Advertising Practice and other industry bodies to achieve this goal – but we are prepared to introduce new regulations if necessary,” the party said in a press release today.

An online system to boost parent power will also be set up. This will let people see what content and campaigns others are complaining about, so pressure can be brought to remove products or campaigns people think are inappropriate.