Rating The Internet - Page 2

Blue: “Not yet rated by the PTC.”

Well naturally I wanted to know more about what actually goes into the various ratings categories, and so, ignoring the warning that the ratings details contain “graphic descriptions,” I clicked on. I don’t think I can adequately describe my horror at what I discovered.

To my chagrin, I learned that the “red” designation refers to the following words (out of modesty, I have replaced letters with random characters): “Sh*t, d&ck, pri#ck, f@ck, !sshole, c^ck, G—damn, profaning Jesus Christ.” These words in their unexpurgated form were accompanied by explicit details of the types of sex and violence, and their frequency, that would warrant red, yellow or green designations.

I also learned that the frequency of “veiled or mild innuendo” or “responsible discussion of sexual issues” may bump the rating from “green” to “yellow,” where even one depiction or mention of “sexual innuendo, marital sex, sex implied, homosexuality, pre-coital and/or post-coital or responsible discussion of pornography or masturbation” would suffice. More than three occurrences of the former per half hour gets the bump from green to yellow. Three or more per half hour of the latter group gets the red. I think you get the idea.

Here via a link available to anyone, of any age, is web content that would offend everyone, of every age, from the youngest sprout to the oldest beanstalk. So the question springs to mind, who rates the raters? If we can’t rely on our media censors to clean up their act, who can we trust? The Parents Television Council may be performing a noble function vis-a-vis television, film, and literature, but I’m afraid that until they censor themselves, I cannot in good conscience recommend their website.

For that matter, their example suggests that any website, no matter how innocuous, may contain offensive material. Until an organization takes the burden of discovery off of me by publishing a comprehensive rating list of all Internet web sites, I’ll just have to console myself by listening to my new collection of George Carlin CDs.

Article Author: Robert K. Blechman

An experienced information technology executive, I am currently Associate Director in the Office of Information Technology at a major medical school. As an adjunct professor at Fordham University, I have taught courses in communication theory, mass media and society and media industries. …

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