Controlling the Narrative - Part 2

Censorship and Other Means of Control

This is the first substantive article in my series about the continuing narrative surrounding control of content on the Internet.

In an effort to ensure the proper definition of terms and concepts, I shall start by describing New Zealand’s censorship laws and move to discuss the way in which the Internet control narrative does not directly intrude upon censorship at law, although in some respects the results may be the same.

Censorship

Censorship is the action of banning or restricting access to content – usually by the State or a State entity – where the possession or distribution of that content is an offence. In New Zealand the censorship power is contained in the Films, Video and Publications Communication Act 1993 (FVPCA). In New Zealand the powers of censorship are quite constrained.

Prior to the enactment of the FVPCA there were three separate regimes with their own criteria: a Chief Censor of Films under the Films Act, a Video Recordings Tribunal under the Video Recordings Act and the Indecent Publication Tribunal under the Indecent Publications Act.

A Ministerial Inquiry in 1989 recommended the development of one comprehensive classification system for the material already covered by existing censorship laws and an extension of the scope of the law to include a wider range of mediums.

The FVPCA set up a Classification Office to review and classify material submitted to it, and a Board of Review to which an appeal could be made.

The classification process is administered by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, the Classification Office, which is an independent Crown entity headed by a Chief Censor and a Deputy Chief Censor.

The functions of the Classification Office are: to determine the classification of publications submitted to it, to determine questions relating to the character of a publication referred to it by a court, to decide whether conditions should be imposed on a restricted publication, to examine film posters submitted to it and to determine whether an exemption to the provisions of the legislation should apply.

It must act independently in performing its functions and duties.

The Classification Office assigns a classification to material submitted to it. Classification is a legal statement about the persons to whom the publication can be made. Publications can be classified as:

(a) Unrestricted, or

(b) Objectionable, or

(c) Objectionable except if the publication is

(i) restricted to persons who have obtained a specified age not exceeding 18, or

(ii) restricted to specified persons or class of persons, or

(iii) to be used for one or more specified purposes.

Unrestricted films or games can be labelled G, meaning the film or game can be shown to anyone given that it has a low level of any scene that might shock or frighte

n, PG where guidance is recommended for younger children, or M which is more suitable for mature audiences.

A publication that would otherwise be classified as objectionable may be classified as restricted so that it can be made available for educational, professional, scientific, literary, artistic, or technical purposes. Visitor Q for example was classified as objectionable unless it was restricted to persons over the age of 18, and limited for the purpose of tertiary media or film study, or as part of a film festival. The Board noted that the main film festivals had a track record of responsible treatment of controversial films.

If films or games are classified as R13, R15, R16 or R18 it is an offence to sell, hire, show or give the film or game to anyone under the specified age. Very occasionally a film will have an RP13, RP16 or RP18 classification. This means that anyone under the specified age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian while viewing the film.

Objectionable