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The Motion Picture Associationfilm rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures are the responsibility of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), previously known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) from 1945 to 2019. The MPA rating system is a voluntary scheme that is not enforced by law; films can be exhibited without a rating, although most theaters refuse to exhibit non-rated or NC-17 rated films. Non-members of the MPA may also submit films for rating. Other media, such as television programs, music and video games, are rated by other entities such as the TV Parental Guidelines, the RIAA and the ESRB, respectively.
A motion picture content rating system classifies films based on their suitability for audiences due to their treatment of issues such as sex, violence, or substance abuse, their use of profanity, or other matters typically deemed unsuitable for children or adolescents. Most countries have some form of rating system that issues determinations variously known as certifications, classifications, certificates, or ratings. Age recommendations, of either an advisory or restrictive capacity, are often applied in lieu of censorship; in some jurisdictions movie theaters may have a legal obligation to enforce restrictive ratings.
The Office of Film and Literature Classification, branded as the Classification Office, is an independent Crown entity established under Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 responsible for censorship and classification of publications in New Zealand. A "publication" is defined broadly to be anything that shows an image, representation, sign, statement, or word. This includes films, video games, books, magazines, CDs, T-shirts, street signs, jigsaw puzzles, drink cans, and slogans on campervans. The Chief Censor, Caroline Flora, is the chair of the Office.
The Ontario Film Review Board is an inactive agency of the government of the Canadian province of Ontario that was formerly responsible for that province's motion picture rating system. Until 2015, the board reported to the Minister of Consumer Services but as of 1 October 2015, the board was overseen by the Ontario Film Authority. The board's activities were based on the Film Classification Act, 2005.
The Maritime Film Classification Board is a government organization responsible for reviewing films and granting film ratings in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
In film, nudity may be either graphic or suggestive, such as when a person appears to be naked but is covered by a sheet. Since the birth of film, depictions of any form of sexuality have been controversial, and in the case of most nude scenes, had to be justified as part of the story.
The cinema of Malaysia consists of feature films produced in Malaysia, shot in the languages Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil, various indigenous languages, and English.
Film censorship is carried out by various countries to differing degrees, sometimes as a result of powerful or relentless lobbying by organizations or individuals. Films that are banned in a particular country change over time.
The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board is a Philippine government agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines that is responsible for the classification and review of television programs, motion pictures and home videos.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952." The Cinematograph Act 1952 outlines a strict certification process for commercial films shown in public venues. Films screened in cinemas and on television may only be publicly exhibited in India after certification by the board and edited.
Censorship is a long term issue in Malaysia which has become more apparent as it attempts to adapt to a modern knowledge-based economy. Despite having in its Federal Constitution that subject to certain conditions, "every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression", Malaysia has consistently sat low on global indexes related to press and media freedom.
The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia is a Malaysian government ministry that vets films. It is under the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Manitoba Film Classification Board (MFCB) was a provincial government organization responsible for rating films and video games rented, sold, or shown in the province of Manitoba. In mid 2018, the Board was dissolved, with its duties being outsourced to British Columbia for film classifications, and transferred to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) for video games.
The Régie du cinéma was a provincial film classification organization responsible for the motion picture rating system within the Canadian province of Quebec. Existing in several guises since the start of the 20th century, the organization came into being in its final form as a department of the Government of Quebec's Ministry of Culture and Communications (MCC) on 23 June 1983. Its roles were merged and fully integrated into the MCC on 1 April 2017. Its mandate was to classify and approve films for distribution to Quebec's movie theatres and home video outlets. Its purview devolved from the Cinema Act. As of 2010, the organization had a net income of 7 million dollars and had accumulated more than 85 million dollars in cash in their bank account.
British Board of Film Classification is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works released on physical media within the United Kingdom. It has a statutory requirement to classify all video works released on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and, to a lesser extent, some video games under the Video Recordings Act 1984. The BBFC was also the designated regulator for the UK age-verification scheme, which was abandoned before being implemented.
The Central Board of Film Censors is a film censorship board and rating system body under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for the Government of Pakistan. Since the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan its jurisdiction has been limited to Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Cantonments, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan; with separate censor boards for Punjab and Sindh headquartered in Lahore and Karachi respectively. Though the CBFC maintains an unofficial dominant position over the latter boards.
Sex in film, the presentation of aspects of sexuality in film, specially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or suggest sexual behavior have been criticized by religious groups or have been banned or censored by governments, although attitudes have changed much along the years and a more permissive social environment has developed in certain parts of the world, notably in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. In countries with a film rating system, films which contain explicit sex scenes typically receive a restricted classification. Nudity in film may be regarded as sexual or as non-sexual.
Media regulation in the Republic of Singapore is carried out by the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) and effected by various laws.
The Kenya Film Classification Board is a state corporation that operates under the Government of Kenya whose mandate is to "regulate the creation, broadcasting, possession, distribution and exhibition of films by rating them." The Board was founded in 1963 with the commencement of the laws outlined in the Films and Stage Plays Act of 1962 and has since involved itself in the rating and classification of films and television programmes. More recently, it has caused controversy by banning several films, such as the American box office success The Wolf of Wall Street, the Kenyan film Stories of Our Lives, Rafiki, and the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey based on the novel of the same name. The Board has also regulated television content, including advertisements.
References
- ↑ "Cutting for change", TheStar Online, May 14, 2007. Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine