Adelstein Calls For Action To Ban Kid-Targeting Interactive Ads

Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein has called on the FCC to act on a 2004 proposal by the commission that would ban interactive advertising targeted at kids. "With the growing convergence of TV and the Internet, we need to set the rules before interactive advertising becomes an established business model," said Commissioner Adelstein. He also called on the FCC to develop a nationwide education campaign about media literacy, healthy food choices and parental controls, and to do it in concert with the broadcast and cable industries. Finally, Commissioner Adelstein said the FCC should provide clearer guidelines on what qualifies as educational kids TV content. The FCC currently requires stations to essentially self-certify that they are carrying at least three hours of educational children's programming, which has led to some questionable claims of educational content, perhaps most famously the boomer prime time cartoon classic, The Flintstones.