Unit 1, Task 7- Regulatory frameworks

Unit 1, Task 7- Regulatory frameworks 

 

A regulatory body is an organisation there to establish and regulate national standards from the government. These follow regulatory frameworks which are mandatory or voluntary legal mechanisms and can include procedures, regulations, guidelines and codes of conduct etc.  

An example of a creative communications regulatory body is Ofcom who regulate the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the UK. They have a statutory duty to represent the interests of consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from offensive or harmful content. Some of the areas that Ofcom conduct include licensing, complaints, codes and policies and protecting against pirate radio stations. 

They have developed an ‘Operating Framework’ for the BBC. This includes a review of BBC regulation where they reflect on the regulation over the past 4 years on keeping the BBC fit for viewers and listeners. The operating License sets the conditions considering appropriate for the BBC on fulfilling their mission and promoting the public interests. Their actual Operating Framework includes their functions of regulating the BBC, content standards, competition, performance and assessments of the BBC. 

The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) is a self-regulatory organisation of the advertising n the UK. They apply the Advertising Codes which are written by the Committee of Advertising Practise (CAP). These advertising codes set the standards and guidelines for advertising in the UK and ASA responds to complaints made by the public on adverts. They also work with organisations on getting their ads right before publishment.  

Their framework or regulatory system is a mixture of self-regulation for non-broadcast advertising and co-regulation of broadcast advertising. Self-regulation includes the advertising industry voluntarily establishing and paying for its own regulation and co-regulation means the ASA as responsibility on a day-to-day basis for regulating the content of broadcast (TV and radio) adverts under contract from Ofcom. They do this by enforcing their advertising codes which include separate codes for broadcast and non-broadcast advertisements, but all adverts are expected to be, ‘legal, decent, honest and truthful’. 

IPSO is the Independent Press Standards Organisation and they’re an independent regulator for the magazine and newspaper industry. IPSO is responsible for upholding and promoting the highest professional standards of journalism and supporting the public when seeking amendments where journalism has breached the Editors Code of Practise. IPSO follows the Editors Code of Practise. Their code consists of 16 clauses on topics that they regulate. Accuracy, Privacy, Harassment, Intrusion into grief or shock, Reporting suicide, Children, Children in sex cases, Hospitals, Reporting of Crime, Clandestine devices and subterfuge, Victims of sexual assault, Discrimination, Financial Journalism, Confidential sources, Witness payments of criminal trials, Payment to criminals. Some of these clauses may have an exception if they can be demonstrated to be in the public interest.  

BBFC is the British Board of Film Classification and is a non-government organisation founded by the film industry in 1919. They are responsible for censorship and classification of films exhibited at cinemas and video works.  Their focus on classification is to ensure that families and the public can choose what’s suitable for them. They follow a process of Compliance Officers going to view a film waiting for release and the age recommendation is approved by a Compliance Manager. They look at issues in film such as nudity, sex, bad language, drugs, horror and violence when making recommendations and then they will fit the film into one of seven age rating. These include U, PG, 12A, 12, 15, 18 and R18. This means children under the ages of the film rating are not allowed to view the film in cinema or rent/ buy the film. A 12A film provides parental guidance where it is not recommended for children under 12 but adults can decide whether a film is suitable for their child by reading the Ratings Info which includes the content warnings of the film. 

PEGI (Pan European Game Information is a video game content rating system. Similar to BBFC, PEGI provide age ratings for video games based on any potentially harmful content. These age ratings include 3, 7, 12, 16 and 18. In addition to these ages, PEGI include an exclamation mark to represent ‘Parental Guidance Recommended’ meaning that the game is available for all ages but its recommended that parents supervise children under 18 whilst using it. These age ratings are based on content descriptors in the video game. These include; bad language, discrimination, drugs, fear, gambling, sex, violence and in-game purchases. PEGI uses a traditional method of rating games for pre-release verification. This includes publishers filling out questionnaires about the content of the product and from this, PEGI’s rating system automatically decides on a provisional age rating based on the content descriptors. This is then reviewed by PEGI administrators and approved or altered based on the content. 

PEGI also rate games through a post-release verification for digital products using IARC (International Age Rating Coalition). This allows for a large number of new apps and app updates to be age rated. Publishers using IARC must fill in a questionnaire about the product’s content and will then receive a license with age ratings of the participating rating boards of IARC. These are from Europe, Australia, Brazil, North America and South Korea. 

According to the GOV.UK website, the Creative Industries Council is a ‘joint forum between the creative industries and the government.’ They act on improving access to finance, skills, intellectual property and regulation in the creative industry.