BBFC News

The Abyss is 1989 US adventure film by James Cameron.
With Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn.

Back in 1989 the BBFC ordered cuts to Abyss to the scene where a rat is dipped in supposedly breathable liquid. The BBFC claim cruelty to animals in the making of the scene but the director claims that several different rats were used to ensure that none suffered. The BBFC reported that it sought advice from the NSPCC who claimed that it contravened the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937.

The issue resurfaced in October of this year when it was noted that the film was playing uncut on Netflix apparently with a BBFC 15 rating.

The BBFC have now responded that they believe the cut is still required, but that amount of material cut could now be reduced.

The Government has formally proposed that the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) be designated as the regulator for the age verification of online pornography in the UK.

Age verification will mean anyone who makes pornography available online on a commercial basis must ensure under 18s in the UK cannot access it. This is part of the Government's continuing work to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.

The BBFC has unparalleled expertise in classifying content and has a proven track record of interpreting and implementing legislation as the statutory authority for age rating videos under the Video Recordings Act.

This, along with its work with industry on the film classification system and more recently classifying material for mobile network operators, makes them the preferred choice for regulator.

Digital Minister Matt Hancock said:

One of the missions of age verification is to harness the freedom of the internet while mitigating its harms. Offline, as a society we protect children from viewing inappropriate adult material by ensuring pornography is sold responsibly using appropriate age checks. It is now time that the online world follows suit. The BBFC are the best placed in the world to do this important and delicate task.

David Austin, Chief Executive Officer at BBFC said:

The BBFC's primary aim is to protect children and other vulnerable groups from harmful content and we are therefore pleased to accept the Government's proposed designation.

Age-verification barriers will help to prevent children accessing or stumbling across pornographic content online. The UK is leading the way with this age-verification regime and will set an international precedent in child protection.

The government's proposal must be approved by Parliament before the BBFC is officially designated as the age-verification regulator.

The regulator will notify non-compliant pornographic providers, and be able to direct internet service providers to prevent customers accessing these sites. It will also notify payment-services providers and other ancillary service providers of these sites, with the intention that they can withdraw their services.

The Government will shortly also publish guidance on how the regulator should fulfil its duties in relation to age verification.

Response: The BBFC will struggle to ensure that Age Verification is safe, secure and anonymous

15th December 2017 See  article from  strangethingsarehappening.com

Responding to the news that the BBFC are in line to be appointed Age Verification regulator, Jim Killock Executive Director of the Open Rights Group said:

The BBFC will struggle to ensure that Age Verification is safe, secure and anonymous. They are powerless to ensure people's privacy.

The major publisher, MindGeek, looks like it will dominate the AV market. We are very worried about their product, AgeID, which could track people's porn use. The way this product develops is completely out of BBFC's hands.

Users will not be able to choose how to access websites. They'll be at the mercy of porn companies. And the blame lies squarely with Theresa May's government for pushing incomplete legislation.

Killock also warned that censorship of porn sites could quickly spiral into hundreds or thousands of sites:

While BBFC say they will only block a few large sites that don't use AV, there are tens of thousands of porn sites. Once MPs work out that AV is failing to make porn inaccessible, some will demand that more and more sites are blocked. BBFC will be pushed to block ever larger numbers of websites.

Response: How to easily get around the UK's porn censorship

15th December 2017 See  article from vpncompare.co.uk

Of course, in putting together this hugely draconian piece of legislation, the British Government has overlooked one rather glaring point. Any efforts to censor online content in the UK can be easily circumvented by anyone using a VPN.

British-based subscribers to a VPN service such as IPVanish or ExpressVPN will be able to get around any blocked sites simply by connecting to a server in another democratic country which hasn't chosen to block websites with adult content.

As much as Governments try to censor online content, so VPN will offer continue to offer people access to the free and uncontrolled internet they are legally entitled to enjoy.

...Read the full  article from vpncompare.co.uk

Padmavati is a 2017 India historical romance by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor.

Rani Padmavati (aka Padmini) is said to be one of the most beautiful women to ever exist. This real life story is epitome of Love and sacrifice between Rajput Queen Padmavati and Rana Rawal Ratan Singh, the Rajput ruler of Mewar. Their perfect life took unfortunate turn when Allauddin Khilji's lustful eyes gazed upon Queen Padmavati. Alauddin Khilji is known as one of the most brutal rulers of the Khilji dynasty, who ascended the throne by killing his father-in-law, his brother-in-laws and their uncles. He was known for attacking states, only for their land and women. And, the motive behind the attack on Mewar was none other than royal Rani Padmavati. Chittorgarh fort, today, stands as an epitome of the true Rajputana spirit, loyalty, fidelity and bravery and a symbol of women power.

Rajput is an hindu caste of India, and Rajput Samaj of UK is a London based group of made up from the local community of the Indian caste. The group seems somewhat offended by the movie Padmavati  and have started a move to try and ensure that the movie is not screened in the UK. They are at pains to mention that they will be expressing their views only through peaceful means, rather hinting that an expectation of recourse to violence is not far below the surface.

The Rajput Samaj of UK wrote to the BBFC pointing out that Padmavati is a revered figure in India and that she represented national pride, rather like the figure of King Arthur in Britain. The Samaj claimed in its letter that the directors of the film had tried to glorify Alauddin Khilji and that such efforts were similar to glorifying ISIS terrorists. They went on to add We must stand up against the glamorisation of plundering, looting, and other barbaric acts, rather in keeping with the extremist view in India that sees its Muslim rulers who ruled for well-nigh 800 years, as plunderers and looters. It urged BBFC to find the right historians who can watch the film and stop the character assassination of Indian icons.

...Read the article from magtheweekly.com for perhaps the best understanding for Brits about what is essentially an Indian argument.

BBFC fees will increase from 1 January 2018.

In 2015, having frozen fees for the previous seven years, and following consultation with the DCMS and industry, we introduced an annual fee formula of RPI minus 1% to ensure our long term income was on a sustainable footing. This sub-inflation formula also carried a built-in need to make annual cost savings in our business while still delivering an efficient service to industry.

In October 2017, the Office for National Statistics announced that September RPI was 3.9% which is higher than recent years. In light of this, and the fact BBFC fees have only increased by 2.3% over the last ten years, although we are keen to retain the RPI minus 1% formula going forward, for 2018, as a one-off good will offering to customers, we propose to deviate from the formula and clip the increase from 2.9% to 2%

We are therefore increasing the fees for our statutory services by 2%, as follows:

• Theatrical submissions: £7.30 per minute and 2£104.57 submission fee

• Video Recordings Act submissions: £6.26 per minute and £78.30 submission fee

See other fees in article from bbfc.co.uk

A conference took place in October 2017 in the Vatican in Rome called Child Dignity in the Digital World. The vent describes itself on its website:

This pioneering congress hosted by the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome sets a milestone in the international fight against digital sexual child abuse.

The invitation-only congress brings together distinguished academic experts, business leaders, leaders of civil society, high-level politicians and religious representatives from across the globe. This provides a historic opportunity to set the global agenda for the fight against online sexual child abuse and for child protection in the digital world.

The BBFC's Policy Director David Miles attended the conference and reported bacK

The agenda included presentations from some of the foremost academic researchers on the impact of pornography on children and young people. There was considerable overseas interest in Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act (DEA) and the BBFC's proposed regulatory role under it, with the DEA seen as a potential model for other countries to draw upon.

It was also noted that Miles will recommend following up with experts and country contacts once the BBFC is officially designated as the internet porn censor.

Access All Areas is a 2017 UK comedy music drama by Bryn Higgins.
Starring Ella Purnell, Georgie Henley and Nigel Lindsay.

An unlikely gang of teens go on the run to an island music festival, leaving behind their dysfunctional parents and the rules of the real world.

The film was originally for cinema and VoD and was passed 15 uncut for strong sex references, nudity, drug misuse.

A few days later the film was cut and resubmitted by the distributor. This time the film was passed 15 for strong sex references, drug misuse.

So presumably the nudity was cut so to avoid it being mentioned in the BBFC aconsumer dvice.

Prank is a 2016 Canada comedy drama by Vincent Biron.
Starring Alexandre Auger, Eric K Boulianne and Normand Daoust.

Stefie, a lonely young boy, is approached by Martin, Jean-Sé and Lea to record their daily pranks with his cellphone. The four prankmeisters decide to set up an antic that goes beyond anything they've done so far... But who will be the victim? PRANK is a funny and cruel coming-of-age story about friendship, peer pressure and the loss of innocence.

UK: Passed 15 for strong language, sex references, nudity, drug misuse after 24s of BBFC compulsory cuts for:

• 2017 Under The Milky Way VoD [UK only] at UK Amazon

The BBFC commented:

• Cuts were required to remove sight of a young child in the same frame as pornographic images playing on a television screen. Cuts required in accordance with the Protection of Children Act 1978.