Regulation essay

During the course of this essay, I'll be analysing how well contemporary media regulation protects the public.  The 2 main forms of media that I will be analysing in this question will be film and games which are regulated by BBFC and PEGI. 

To begin, films in the UK are regulated by the ‘British Board of Film Classification’ (BBFC) previously known as the ‘British Board of Film Censors’ when it was first established in 1912. The change in the regulators name was due to the term 'censor' sounding as if they were a restricting body. The BBFC are a non-statutory business, as they deal with regulating films without influence from the British government. Their sole purpose is to certify and classify any film that was to be released in any cinema in Britain.m, giving them ratings of: U, PG, 12, 15 and 18. 

The BBFC also used to regulate games, but in 2003, the Pan European Games Information (PEGI) was established and by 2012 they took full control of regulating games in Europe. PEGI is the game regulator for games, making them a non-statutory regulating body. Their main purpose is to assist parents in Europe when making the decision on what games they can buy their children by categorising games by their level of violence and sex; and not the games difficulty which is usually what people think it is. This categorising is done by labelling the packaging of each game with a descriptor that has either a 3, 7, 12, 16 and 18 printed onto it. 

Even though these regulating bodies are in place, there are still problems with the regulation of different media. This is mostly caused by the growth and advancement of technology. For instance younger viewers can watch or play media products that are rated above their age online in phones and iPads etc without their parents even knowing. For this reason BBFC and PEGI are trying different sorts of regulatory practices to make sure things like this don’t really happen. For example, in 2007, PEGI created PEGI online to protect younger viewers.

Call of Duty is a game that has caused a moral panic. PEGI rated the game 18 as it consists of gross violence and is really bloody, the violence being very realistic also took part in this decision. This game is very controversial as it was named a reason for the death of a fourteen year old boy. In 2011 Callum Green hung himself straight after playing Call of Duty which was rated way above his age. This is an example that people who are younger than the specific age rating of a game are still trying to find a way to play it. One could say that this shows that PEGI have a good system as they know what games wouldn’t be suitable for someone as we can see the damage it does and also how the parents can be at fault for buying these games for their young children. However, this can't be the case, as Call of Duty has affected someone who is over 18, Anders Breivik was a Norwegian mass killer who claims that he used Call of Duty to help him carry out these attacks. 

In terms of films, Blue is the Warmest Colour was passed by the BBFC as an 18 uncut. It was rated 18 for having strong sex and very strong language. The film is based on a lesbian romance between a high school student and an arts college student. This film received several complaints as viewers thought it was too explicit as it included full nudity and sex scenes that lasted for at least ten minutes. These scenes were also filmed to look very realistic to viewers, which means unsimulated sex was shown.  People thought that this wasn’t appropriate as the main fictional character was a fifteen year old and if this was to happen in reality, it would be seen as an illegal act in the eyes of the law. However others may go against this as they believe once you’re 18 you can make the decision to watch any film. As well as this the film is a French film so the acts inside it can be seen as arty and a great portrayal of romance, which is the reason why it's uncut, as the graphicness is there for artist effect. 

PEGI and the BBFC are not the only regulators who receive a lot of complaints, another form of media which is seen as being difficult to regulate is television. This job is done by OFCOM who are a statutory business. OFCOM tend to receive complaints after a show has been televised meaning they can be seen as not strict as people have been already exposed to the show, making them a reactive regulating body. For instance, Celebrity Big Brother in 2016 had a member called Winston McKenzie who brought up very homophobic and discriminating comments, saying how he wouldn't mind being around a homosexual, but he would be "backed up against the wall". This show was broadcasted and then after it received several complaints however nothing could’ve been done; they couldn’t take it off because it had already been broadcasted; the damage had already been made. 

To conclude I believe that media regulatory businesses do their bestto protect the public, but it is the public that decrease this effectiveness because they act upon everything they see, as it brings an inner desire. I also feel like in the future regulation won’t be as strict as it is now, it would only get more lenient as people are now desensitized to violence and society is becoming more liberal so different things will be normal and acceptable in films and games.