Regulatory Bodies. Unit 7

1. Regulatory Bodies.Unit 7 Teya Cridland.

2. Regulatory bodies in the media. BBFC-The British Board of Film Classification originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organization, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom. It has a statutory requirement to classify videos, DVDs and some video games under the Video Recordings Act 2010. • Protect  the public, and especially children, from content which might raise harm risks. • Empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices. • Recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law. • Respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research. • Provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit. • Work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems. • Provide an effective service to enforcement agencies. Cinema • The British Board of Film Censors was set up in 1912 by the film industry as an independent body to bring a degree of uniformity to the classification of film nationally. Statutory powers on film remain with the local councils, which may overrule any of the BBFC’s decisions, passing films we reject, banning films we have passed, and even waiving cuts, instituting new ones, or altering categories for films exhibited under their own licensing jurisdiction. Video • In 1984 Parliament passed the Video Recordings Act. This act stated that, subject to certain exemptions, video recordings offered for sale or hire commercially in the UK must be classified by an authority designated by the Secretary of State. The President and Vice Presidents of the BBFC were so designated, and charged with applying the new test of ‘suitability for viewing in the home’. At this point the Board’s title was changed to the British Board of Film Classification to reflect the fact that classification plays a far larger part in the BBFC’s work than censorship. Finances • The BBFC is a not for profit organisation, and its fees are adjusted only to cover its costs. In order to preserve its independence, the BBFC never receives subsidies from either the film industry or the government. Its income is solely from the fees it charges for its services, calculated by measuring the running time of films or DVDs submitted for classification. The BBFC consults the Department of Culture, Media and Sport before making any changes to its fees.

3. … • ASA- The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. They investigate and adjudicate on potential breaches of the Advertising Codes, and monitor compliance with the rules. They aim to achieve our mission by getting better at regulating ads in all media, and in particular by: • Making a success of regulating online ads. • Being an effective part of the response to societal issues shown to be affected by advertising. • Placing more emphasis on prevention rather than cure. • Being more efficient and in tune with consumers, business and society. As the UK’s independent regulator for advertising across all media, our work includes acting on complaints and proactively checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing. If we judge an ad to be in breach of the UK Advertising Codes, it must be withdrawn or amended and the advertiser must not use the approach again. In 2011 we considered 31,458 complaints about 22,397 cases and we actively checked thousands of ads. Our work led to 4,591 ads being changed or withdrawn. The UK advertising regulatory system is a mixture of • self-regulation for non-broadcast advertising and • co-regulation for broadcast advertising. Broadly this means that the system is paid for by the industry, which also writes the rules, but those rules are independently enforced by the ASA. For TV and radio advertising, we regulate under a contract from Ofcom. The UK Advertising Codes are written by two industry committees: the Committee of Advertising Practice writes the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) writes the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising. The system is a sign of a considerable commitment by the advertising industry to uphold standards in their profession. All parts of the advertising industry – advertisers, agencies and media – have come together to commit to being legal, decent, honest and truthful in their ads.

4. Ofcom-Ofcom is the communications regulator. We regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. We make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can thrive. Ofcom operates under the Communications Act 2003. This detailed Act of Parliament spells out exactly what Ofcom should do – we can do no more or no less than is spelt out in the Act. The Act says that Ofcom’s general duties should be to further the interests of citizens and of consumers. Meeting these two duties is at the heart of everything we do. Accountable to Parliament, we are involved in advising and setting some of the more technical aspects of regulation, implementing and enforcing the law. Ofcom is funded by fees from industry for regulating broadcasting and communications networks, and grant-in-aid from the Government. What we do • Our main legal duties are to ensure: • the UK has a wide range of electronic communications services, including high-speed services such as broadband; • a wide range of high-quality television and radio programmes are provided, appealing to a range of tastes and interests; • television and radio services are provided by a range of different organisations; • people who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material; • people are protected from being treated unfairly in television and radio programmes, and from having their privacy invaded; and • a universal postal service is provided in the UK – this means a six days a week, universally priced delivery and collection service across the country; and • the radio spectrum (the airwaves used by everyone from taxi firms and boat owners, to mobile-phone companies and broadcasters) is used in the most effective way. What we do not do • We are not responsible for regulating: • disputes between you and your telecoms provider; • premium-rate services, including mobile-phone text services and ringtones; • the content of television and radio adverts; • complaints about accuracy in BBC programmes; • the BBC TV licence fee; or • post offices; or • newspapers and magazines. Taken from: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/what-is-ofcom/

5. Contact details • BBFC: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-bbfc/contact-us • ASA: Advertising Standards Authority LimitedMid City Place71 High HolbornLondonWC1V 6QT • Tel: 020 7492 2222Fax: 020 7242 3696 • Text phone: 020 7242 8159 • Ofcom: OfcomRiverside House2a Southwark Bridge RoadLondonSE1 9HA • http://www.ofcom.org.uk/contact-us/

6. Sources and links • http://www.asa.org.uk/About-ASA/About-regulation.aspx • http://www.asa.org.uk/Contact-us.aspx • http://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-bbfc/contact-us • http://www.ofcom.org.uk/contact-us/ • http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/what-is-ofcom/ • http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ • http://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-bbfc