Public attitudes towards offensive language on television, radio and video-on-demand

Warning: this report contains potentially highly offensive language and discussion of content which may cause offence.

Ofcom commissioned Ipsos to conduct research to help us understand public attitudes towards offensive language on TV, radio and video-on-demand (VoD) services. This report provides an updated picture of audience attitudes to offensive language, building on previous research commissioned by Ofcom in 2021. It also examines attitudes to other types of potentially offensive content, for example mimicking of accents and disabilities.

The research involved a mixed methods approach. For the quantitative phase of the research, Ipsos carried out an online survey among a nationally representative quota sample of 4,289 UK adults aged 18+. The survey captured spontaneous responses on the acceptability of 183 potentially offensive words and phrases, with a minimum of 1,000 respondents assessing each term. Respondents individually assessed the acceptability of these terms for broadcast on TV before and after the 9pm watershed, thinking about the protection of children and their own experience of offensive content. Fieldwork ran from 2 to 17 March 2026.

The qualitative phase comprised 24 online focus groups and 10 depth interviews with participants from a variety of locations and backgrounds, including parents of children of different ages, non-parents and individuals with a range of protected characteristics. The discussions captured differing views on a variety of issues related to offensive language, freedom of expression and regulation. Fieldwork took place between 16 April and 2 June 2026.

The main outputs of this research are a quick reference guide to offensive language, which assigns pre- and post-watershed ratings to individual terms for the first time, and a report exploring the contextual factors that influence acceptability.

Public attitudes towards offensive language on television, radio and video-on-demand - 2026 - research report (PDF, 1.64 MB)

Public attitudes towards offensive language on TV and radio - 2026 - quick reference guide (PDF, 821 KB)

Public attitudes towards offensive language on television, radio and video-on-demand - 2026 - Annexes (PDF, 1.44 MB)