Sky has been censured by UK regulator Ofcom over its failure to protect under-18s from watching episodes of Game of Thrones broadcast in the daytime.
A repeat episode of the Sky/HBO mega-hit aired at 7.35 a.m. GMT on August 19 but Sky Atlantic viewers were not required to enter a pin code due to a technical fault with Sky’s system for around 40 minutes before the show was taken off air.
Under-18s were therefore able to easily access an episode “which contained multiple use of offensive language including ‘c**t’, ‘f**ck’ and ‘s**t’, according to Ofcom’s ruling this morning, which found Sky to be in breach.
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UK broadcasters are only allowed to show programing with swearing prior to the 9 p.m. GMT watershed if said programing is password protected.
Ofcom acknowledged that there had been an “unseen technical fault” with Sky’s technology and said “measures have been put in place to prevent a reoccurrence.”
Responding, Sky said it “fully accepts strong content should not be broadcast before the watershed without the necessary mandatory PIN protection” and “sincerely apologise[d] to those customers who viewed this content.”
“It is never our intention to offend or upset our viewers,” the pay-TV giant added.
Game of Thrones has long been deemed one of the most violent and swear-laden shows on TV. Its prequel House of the Dragon launched in September, hitting high ratings.
The incident comes just two weeks after Channel 4 youth channel E4 was similarly found to be in breach for episodes of Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA, which contained 39 incidents of offensive language prior to the watershed.
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