Essay Question (Half Term)

How well does contemporary media regulation protect the public?

BBFC and PEGI are both regulatory organisations who are in control of certifying and rating media products in the UK.

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) was set up in 1912, to protect the general public from viewing material that could be seen as harmful or offensive. They were originally in charge of classifying cinema released films and later went on to rate videos and DVDs, as well as video games in 1984. However, a new regulator was formed in 2003, called PEGI (Pan European Game Information). They took over the classifying of video games in the UK, along with the rest of Europe. However, the BBFC still has some say in video games, in relation to heavier sexual content.

The BBFC are a proactive, non-government, self regulating organisation that classify films that have been submitted to them by the creators. They then place an age rating on these films, in order to protect certain age groups from harmful and offensive content. The age ratings allow the public to choose what they view with an easier decision, as the rating defines what will be shown within the film. Each age rating has a list of factors as to why a film has been justified at that particular rating.

PEGI, similarly to the BBFC, also place age ratings on video games, for similar reasons. The content of a video game is what the rating is judged by, like films, and is there in order to prevent certain age groups from accessing certain material that could be deemed harmful.

There are problems, however, with both regulators. Although they are in place to provide protection, in modern day media, there are other means of access.
For example, the Internet has become a beacon of unregulated material in that anyone of any age group can access it, through websites like YouTube and illegal film streaming websites. Demo prototypes of video games can also be found on the Internet, stopping the regulators from being able to protect like they aim to.

As an audience, we rely on these regulators to make the decision of what we should and shouldn't be able to access and piracy such as this, defies these organisations the ability to that.

One film that was controversial was The Hunger Games. The film itself was rated a 12A in the UK. However, there were complaints that it was too intense and 'gory' for children that young, with scenes including blood and death. As none of the scenes showed graphic deaths, it was allowed to be passed as a 12A, but managed to stir up doubts as to whether films were being regulated properly for children.

Hatred is an unreleased game that has not yet been rated in the UK. However, it has gained controversy due to the high content of sexual and violent imagery shown in the trailer. PEGI have not yet rated this game and therefore, it is difficult to see whether or not this will protect the public and show it as an effective regulator.

Due to the desensitisation of the public over the years, film and video game regulators continue to push the boundaries, as ratings seem to change due to the content becoming 'normal' in today's society. The regulators classify for the 'standard, normal' person, which leaves it open to criticism on whether this is effective. Overall, regulators will not always be able to regulate effectively, due to the content being available on other media platforms and this is down to viewer discretion only.