Legal and Ethical Issues
The complex and controversial question that is asked is “Should the media be regulated?” I will be exploring this question and answering it stating the legal and ethical issues that go a long with the question itself.
One of the statements that is issued with this question is “Children and young people should be able to choose their own viewing.” I strongly disagree with this statement, as some films are not suitable for children as they may have too much violence in or go over offensive subjects that are too mature for young children to watch. The regulating body that stops this from happening is the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification), this company is known for certifying and classifying films so that violent or offensive films can’t reach children and stops them from buying DVD’s for example. This also helps people know what the film is about and what will be shown in the film by the certificate, for example if the film is a certified 18 then audiences will know that the film will involve violence or humour or language that is only suitable for people above a certain age which is obviously 18 and over.
Another statement that can be linked to answering this question is "Filmmakers should be free to make the films they want." I agree with this statement to some extent as I think that filmmakers should be as creative as they possibly can when making films but I don't think that they should be distasteful when making these types of films.One of the many laws that are used in filmmaking is the obscene publications act 1959 which would stop filmmakers putting content that will be offensive to people and that may be influential to people that are watching it. The regulating Body BBFC will also stop filmmakers from making the films that they really want to make as the film will have to follow specific guidelines to make their film suitable for all audiences or older audiences it its an 18 and over. This does stop some filmmakers creativity when making their films but I think that it is better that way as then they won't get banned straight away from being broadcasted and it will make the film more tasteful.
The third statement that I found that relates to this is "Films and videos can teach people how to commit crimes" I agree with this statement because a lot of cases to do with murder or other crimes have been down to the defendant watching a film that they have copied off but also in some cases a film has been accused of being the source of the copying when it wasn't. An example of this is the case of James Bulger and two 10 year old boys who killed him. Police officers and investigators thought that they killed the boy from copying what they had saw from the film Child's Play 3 but after more investigations were carried out, investigators found that there was no evidence for the film being the reason why the perpetrators had killed the young boy as of the boys fathers had rented out the film three months before the murder. Another example of that is linked to the question is with video games as there has been a lot of cases of people copying from games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 or some from the Call Of Duty series. Although both of these games are PEGI certified (Pan European Game Information) the crimes were still committed with which some of the defendants said that the games they had played gave them the inspiration to kill people or commit crimes.
The fourth statement I found that relates to the starting question is that "Adults should be able to watch whatever they want." I agree with this statement as adults are matures enough to make their own minds up on whether are watching and what they may watch is up to them. Although going back to the previous statement about "Films and videos can teach people how to commit crimes" an adult with a mental illness or that may be emotionally unstable might see these films and take them too seriously and commit these crimes as they think that it's OK to do something like that. To stop things like this happening, the regulating body OFCOM (Office Of Communications) regulates what may or may not go on to the television, this stops TV shows that may be offensive going on television at for example 4, o, clock and that’s the time where children have just got in from school so this stops programs that are inappropriate from being put on before 9, o, clock, this is known as the watershed and is put on by regulating bodies so that these programs that may use offensive language, violence and other things that people may find offensive to put on at a time where children will be in bed and so people know what sort of shows will be coming up in the late evening.
The fifth and final statement I am analyzing is “Most people understand the difference between film and reality.” I don’t agree with this statement because as there has been a lot of cases go around through other platforms of media saying that people who have watched something off the television or from films that have copied what they have seen and caused serious crimes. This shows that some people can be quite vulnerable when watching some genres of film as they don't understand how to filter the fake from the reality. Films that this may have happened to is "Natural Born Killers", there has been many cases sprung from this hearing about a lot of young couples have been copying this film and murdering numerous amount of people. This film was therefore banned from being shown in multiple different countries and a law that may have caused this is the Obscene Publications Act as it stops filmmakers making films that can be harmful to society and viewers that may watch it.
In conclusion, after doing this research I think that all platforms of media should be regulated as it can have effects on viewers and how they perceive things. I also think there should be regulations on publications and radio and these would be regulated through the IPSO ( Independent Press Standards Organisation) and ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) these bodies regulates publications and radio. I also think that all of the regulating bodies and laws are put in place to make sure nothing goes on to any platform of media goes on to the publics view without it being checked on first.
The complex and controversial question that is asked is “Should the media be regulated?” I will be exploring this question and answering it stating the legal and ethical issues that go a long with the question itself.
One of the statements that is issued with this question is “Children and young people should be able to choose their own viewing.” I strongly disagree with this statement, as some films are not suitable for children as they may have too much violence in or go over offensive subjects that are too mature for young children to watch. The regulating body that stops this from happening is the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification), this company is known for certifying and classifying films so that violent or offensive films can’t reach children and stops them from buying DVD’s for example. This also helps people know what the film is about and what will be shown in the film by the certificate, for example if the film is a certified 18 then audiences will know that the film will involve violence or humour or language that is only suitable for people above a certain age which is obviously 18 and over.
Another statement that can be linked to answering this question is "Filmmakers should be free to make the films they want." I agree with this statement to some extent as I think that filmmakers should be as creative as they possibly can when making films but I don't think that they should be distasteful when making these types of films.One of the many laws that are used in filmmaking is the obscene publications act 1959 which would stop filmmakers putting content that will be offensive to people and that may be influential to people that are watching it. The regulating Body BBFC will also stop filmmakers from making the films that they really want to make as the film will have to follow specific guidelines to make their film suitable for all audiences or older audiences it its an 18 and over. This does stop some filmmakers creativity when making their films but I think that it is better that way as then they won't get banned straight away from being broadcasted and it will make the film more tasteful.
The third statement that I found that relates to this is "Films and videos can teach people how to commit crimes" I agree with this statement because a lot of cases to do with murder or other crimes have been down to the defendant watching a film that they have copied off but also in some cases a film has been accused of being the source of the copying when it wasn't. An example of this is the case of James Bulger and two 10 year old boys who killed him. Police officers and investigators thought that they killed the boy from copying what they had saw from the film Child's Play 3 but after more investigations were carried out, investigators found that there was no evidence for the film being the reason why the perpetrators had killed the young boy as of the boys fathers had rented out the film three months before the murder. Another example of that is linked to the question is with video games as there has been a lot of cases of people copying from games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 or some from the Call Of Duty series. Although both of these games are PEGI certified (Pan European Game Information) the crimes were still committed with which some of the defendants said that the games they had played gave them the inspiration to kill people or commit crimes.
The fourth statement I found that relates to the starting question is that "Adults should be able to watch whatever they want." I agree with this statement as adults are matures enough to make their own minds up on whether are watching and what they may watch is up to them. Although going back to the previous statement about "Films and videos can teach people how to commit crimes" an adult with a mental illness or that may be emotionally unstable might see these films and take them too seriously and commit these crimes as they think that it's OK to do something like that. To stop things like this happening, the regulating body OFCOM (Office Of Communications) regulates what may or may not go on to the television, this stops TV shows that may be offensive going on television at for example 4, o, clock and that’s the time where children have just got in from school so this stops programs that are inappropriate from being put on before 9, o, clock, this is known as the watershed and is put on by regulating bodies so that these programs that may use offensive language, violence and other things that people may find offensive to put on at a time where children will be in bed and so people know what sort of shows will be coming up in the late evening.
The fifth and final statement I am analyzing is “Most people understand the difference between film and reality.” I don’t agree with this statement because as there has been a lot of cases go around through other platforms of media saying that people who have watched something off the television or from films that have copied what they have seen and caused serious crimes. This shows that some people can be quite vulnerable when watching some genres of film as they don't understand how to filter the fake from the reality. Films that this may have happened to is "Natural Born Killers", there has been many cases sprung from this hearing about a lot of young couples have been copying this film and murdering numerous amount of people. This film was therefore banned from being shown in multiple different countries and a law that may have caused this is the Obscene Publications Act as it stops filmmakers making films that can be harmful to society and viewers that may watch it.
In conclusion, after doing this research I think that all platforms of media should be regulated as it can have effects on viewers and how they perceive things. I also think there should be regulations on publications and radio and these would be regulated through the IPSO ( Independent Press Standards Organisation) and ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) these bodies regulates publications and radio. I also think that all of the regulating bodies and laws are put in place to make sure nothing goes on to any platform of media goes on to the publics view without it being checked on first.