Ofcom is to introduce labels for computer games and websites to mark their suitability for children.

Speaking at a meeting in London, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown told an audience of parents that the labels would help parents to protect their children from unsuitable content.

The labels will be the same, regardless of media, so television and radio shows, games, websites and films will carry the same information. According to Ofcom, the details of the labels have not been agreed yet, but it will not be age-related, unlike cinema certificates.

Brown said: "We want to promote a culture which favours responsibility and establishes boundaries - limits of what is acceptable and unacceptable. We can't and shouldn't turn the clock back on technology - rather we need to use it to enable parents to exercise the control they want over the new influences on their children."

Parents will also be given more information about technology for controlling children's access to the internet, both from their ISPs and through advertising. Ofcom said it will work with the Internet Watch Foundation to make sure ISPs were giving information to subscribers about filtering software.