Spanish households failing to use parental controls

Over half of Spanish households are aware of the availability of parental controls on their TV service, but only a small minority actually use them, according to research by regulator the CNMC.

Percentage of households activating parental controls in Q217

According to the CNMC’s household panel, some 65% of households are aware of ways to filter what their kids see, but only 11% use this functionality.

Use of filters was lowest on TV. Some 20.8% used parental control filters to regulate what minors saw on computers, while 21.1% used such controls on tablets and 17.5% used them on mobile phones.

Despite the low use of controls, some 80-90% of panelists were concerned about kids’ exposure to unsuitable content. People with children under six years old were most concerned about violent content, while those with children aged 7-11 were concerned both about violence and exposure to representations of dangerous activities that their kids could imitate. Parents of 12-15 year-olds were also concerned about violent, intolerant and discriminatory language, while those of 16 and 17 year-olds were concerned about exposure to content representing abuse of alcohol, tobacco and drugs.