Legal and Regulatory Issues


Legal and Regulatory Issues
  • What are the main regulatory bodies in the media sectors? 
All media sectors are overseen by organisations that impose a code of conduct to make sure audiences are protected.

Most, but not all, of the regulatory bodies are government sponsored, meaning that their rulings are enshrined in law - media producers breaking the rules can be fined for misconduct.

The regulatory bodies have the power to instruct producers to change  content to ensure that it follows the agreed rules. Failure to do so could lead to financial penalties or even the media product being banned.

Regulatory Bodies:
  • BBFC - British Board of Film Classifications: Film and DVD/Blu Ray - Full Legal powers.
  • IPSO - Independent Press Standards Organisation: Magazines and Newspapers.
  • AFA - Advertising Standards Authority: Full Legal Powers.
  • Ofcom - Office of Communications: Broadcast media (TV and radio) - Full Legal Powers.
  • PEGI - Pan European Games Information: Computer and Video Games - Full Legal Powers
Task:
Visit the website for each regulatory body and prepare a blog post that has details for a regulatory decision for each media sector.
Make sure you discuss whether the decisions are classification or censorship. 

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