O2 confirms its advert has passed photosensitive epilepsy safety tests

We reached out to mobile network O2 this week after a number of people with epilepsy contacted us with concerns about strobe lighting in its recent advert.

The ‘Only on priority’ advert, which has been aired widely over the last two weeks, has scenes of people dancing at a concert, and features flashing lights from a few seconds in.

After reviewing the advert in-house, we felt that the advert was most likely compliant with safety standards as the flashing lights are at no more than 5 hertz and not sustained. But we wanted to make O2 aware of the scale of concerns raised and ask them to set out how they make sure their advertising is as safe as possible for people with photosensitive epilepsy.

O2 have come back to us with the response below:

“We are fully committed to advertising responsibly and the advert in question has passed the Photosensitive Epilepsy (PSE) test – also known as the Harding test – which is a requirement by Ofcom and without which a TV ad cannot be cleared for broadcast. The Broadcast Code of Advertising Practice also requires advertisers to pass this test, and Clearcast, the company responsible for clearing adverts for UK commercial broadcasters, also reviews adverts before they air.”

They also said that they have been contacted directly by some people with concerns and will be responding.

All TV programme content in the UK is covered by Ofcom regulations, which aim to keep people safe by restricting the flash rate to three per second or less, as well as restricting the area of screen allowed for flashing lights or alternating patterns. An extra layer of protection is on hand for news stories and programming that might include high levels of flashing images, with a requirement for a warning to be added ahead of time so that people who may be triggered can switch off or look away from the screen.

Photosensitive epilepsy is thankfully rare, affecting an estimated 5 per cent of people with epilepsy. Triggers are individual, but there are steps that people with photosensitive epilepsy can take to reduce risks as fully as they can, such as using flatscreen TVs and computer monitors, taking regular breaks from the screen, and using settings to control moving images in their default internet browser.

We have more information here.