New rules are coming for Netflix and Lightbox, but Facebook and Youtube are off the hook.

The Government wants to write new law covering on-demand entertainment, giving them the same classification requirements and advertising restrictions as television.

Broadcast Minister Amy Adams said the idea is to put in rules for mainstream entertainment sites, rather than targeting all online video.

"It's not about applying standards or classification to youtube or facebook or user generated sites."

Adams says many New Zealanders now watch TV online, but the classification rules that many people rely on aren't applied there.

"Their expectation is that the same sort of rules apply online, so if they're watching a programme as a family, they will be advised if it has content that they don't want to be watching."

"At the moment, there was no clear framework in place," Adams said.