Notice of inquiry seeks comment on protecting, serving children in digital media age

The FCC released a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) Oct. 23 asking how children can be served and protected and parents can be given more control over the media their children consume in the digital age.

The NOI comes almost 20 years after enactment of the Children’s Television Act and follows the commission’s recently issued Child Safe Viewing Act Report, which examined parental control technologies for video and audio programming.

The NOI asks to what extent children are using electronic media today, the benefits and risks this presents, and the ways in which parents, teachers and children can help reap the benefits while minimizing the risks of using these technologies.

The NOI also recognizes that a wealth of academic research and studies exists on these issues and asks commenters to identify additional data and studies, and to indicate where further study is needed.