Byron Review

The Byron Review (titled "Safer Children in a Digital World") was a report ordered in September 2007 by the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown and delivered on the 27 March 2008 to the UK Department for Children, Schools and Families. It was authored and overseen by Dr Tanya Byron. The Review focussed on the use of video games and the Internet (particularly social networking websites) by children, and discussed the use of classification and the role of parenting in policing these.

The report was generally well received by parenting groups, the government and the media industry. The video games industry, however, raised concerns over how increased classification would be funded, with some concerned that the BBFC did not have the capacity for such an increased workload.

On the day following publication of the report, most UK newspapers had a story on their front page outlining the classification system proposed. However, the way in which the stories were phrased, and in particular the conclusions drawn by the newspapers, were almost entirely at odds with the actual conclusions of the review.

During the week following publication, some UK newspapers devoted further space to demonising videogames, again reporting contrary to the conclusions drawn in the review. In particular, the Daily Mail devoted considerable space to minor research on possible correlation between playing video games and developing characteristics of Asperger syndrome. The piece in the newspaper was keen to imply that there was a causal relationship, rather than a mere correlation.

In June 2008 the government published "The Byron Review Action Plan". This document set out how the recommendations of the Byron Review would be implemented across government. In December 2009 the Prime Minister and the Children's Minister asked Tanya Byron to provide a progress review. Titled "Do we have Safer Children in a Digital World?", The Byron Progress Review was published in March 2010.

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