CLASSIFIED - our blog
A blog by members of our Information Unit
We provide information to other staff at the Classification Office, to the public, and to industry members - we are not involved in assigning classifications. The content of our blog posts will be wide-ranging - for example we'll be discussing censorship and freedom of speech, pornography, research, or other aspects of our work at the Classification Office. Keep up with our blog posts by following us on Facebook and Twitter.
Comment moderation
We want discussion to be as free and open as possible, but please be aware that we will not approve any comments that:
- contain personal attacks against individuals, groups or organisations
- use highly offensive language or terms of abuse that target specific groups (unless use of this language is clearly relevant to a post or discussion)
- encourage others to view objectionable content, or provide links to this content or to other graphic or explicit content
- include personal information such as home addresses or phone numbers
- include information about anyone involved in an ongoing court case relating to offences under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act
- are clearly and intentionally off-topic
- contain spam, or are sales pitches, promotions or links to commercial sites
A step in the right direction
Posted on 23 December 2019 by Chief Censor David Shanks
As a parent with children spanning the ages of 6, 12, and 15, I am keenly aware of the challenges facing parents and caregivers in today’s broad ranging digital environment. Online game platforms, streaming services like Lightbox, massive content hubs like YouTube and apps like Tik Tok provide huge opportunities for entertainment and engagement. But I worry that my kids find these things a little bit too entertaining, and I struggle to stay on top of what they are playing and watching. Lots of parents tell me they feel the same.
Porn - let's talk about it
Posted on 09 December 2019 by Chief Censor David Shanks
Lots of New Zealanders watch porn.
We don’t know exactly how many of us watch it, or how often. But it is undeniably popular. Per capita, we are 13th in the world for frequency of visits to the biggest online site, Pornhub.
Dealing with “Deepfakes”
Posted on 17 October 2019 by Curtis Barnes and Tom Barraclough
Have you just seen Nicholas Cage’s face on somebody else’s body? Was he singing? Dancing? You can’t quite remember him in that scene from Lord of the Rings, but perhaps you just forgot…
If you find yourself having thoughts like this, chances are you’ve just come across your first “deepfake” video.
The Ghosting Phenomenon
Posted on 27 September 2019 by Caitlin
A lot of what we do here at the Classification Office involves impacts on young people, and we try to always have their interests at heart. Whether it's content in films and shows or our research into pornography we seek to give useful information and advice. In that vein Classification Advisor Caitlin has a look at the phenomena of ghosting.
Ghosting is a not so nice side of our increasingly online lives. Sadly ghosting is not Patrick Swayze showing up from the afterlife looking hotter than most men do when they’re alive. I’d be OK with it. But in fact it’s quite the opposite.
Drawing a line
Posted on 23 September 2019 by Chief Censor David Shanks
In two years as New Zealand’s Chief Censor, I cannot begin to describe to you some of the things that I have seen.
On one hand, my Classification Office is responsible for age-classifying commercial films, videos and games. That is the fun part. I’ve never seen so many film festival movies as I did in my first year, watching them at a cinema that had been opened specially for myself and one of my team.
On the other hand, my staff and I have to classify material sent to us by law enforcement. This is the dark side. This can be dreadful child sexual abuse images, or harrowing rape clips. And other things, things that some people would find even more damaging to watch.
What? LOOT BOX is evolving!
Posted on 28 August 2019 by Shiyi
It’s a well-known fact that good children get presents for Christmas, while bad children get lumps of coal in their stockings. But imagine that you reach into the stocking and, even though you’ve been a good kid all year, you still ended up with a lump of coal.
What a bummer.
That’s kind of what happens sometimes with loot boxes in games. Except with loot boxes you actually pay for them. You don’t know what you are paying for and if you don’t get the item you want then you can end of buying a bunch of them.
ISP's blocking 8chan: Chief Censor's statement
Posted on 09 August 2019 by Information Unit
The website 8chan has been an online forum of choice – and a key source of inspiration – for numerous mass shooting suspects in the past few months. Most recently, the alleged perpetrator of the massacre in El Paso, Texas, released a so-called ‘manifesto’ on the website outlining his reasons for the attack and expressing support for the Christchurch terror attack. In the past week cyber-security company Cloudflare terminated services for 8chan, effectively shutting down the site. In NZ, Internet Service Provider (ISP) Spark has just made headlines for promising to block the site if and when it reappears.
A recent Guardian article features the response from Chief Censor David Shanks. You can read his full statement below:
Continue reading ISP's blocking 8chan: Chief Censor's statement
Using screen time to your advantage
Posted on 09 July 2019 by Information Unit
You’ve heard the stories. Screen time is bad… right? Mums, dads and carers want to do their best for their kids and it's pretty easy to feel like a failure if you give into screen time even if its hailing outside...
But you don’t have to rip that smartphone from your increasingly strong 10-year-old’s hand for their own good. Maybe we can help you get through this holiday without feeling so guilty about letting your kids indulge.
Surprise! It's a loot box
Posted on 04 July 2019 by Shiyi
In our office we talk to young people a lot about how we classify films and other content like games. Those who are into gaming often ask me about loot boxes and how we classify them. It’s tricky because in New Zealand loot boxes don’t constitute gambling.
Right now there's quite a bit of interest in loot boxes after members of the industry defended its actions by saying that they were not ‘loot boxes’ but 'surprise mechanics'. Some players found that ridiculous.
Courting consequences
Posted on 21 June 2019 by David Shanks
On Tuesday a man was jailed for 21 months for sharing the livestream video of the March 15 Mosque terror attacks.
In every decision we carefully balance New Zealanders’ rights to freedom of expression with the need to protect our communities from harm. This case highlights the serious consequences of the decisions we make.
Far from perfect
Posted on 12 June 2019 by David Shanks
At our office we try to ensure that Kiwis get all the information they need before they watch a movie or series, so people can make viewing choices that are right for them. Increasingly we are less about ‘censorship’ and more about empowering Kiwis to make their own informed choices.
A good example popped up this week after my office was told about themes of sexual violence and child abuse in a film called The Perfection. It initially landed via Netflix as 16+ with a note for ‘Language, violence, nudity’. This looks to me like a US rating. I checked with my counterparts overseas, and found that the Aussies initially rated it as MA15+, with the note ‘Strong Nudity, Strong Violence, Strong Blood and Gore, Strong Coarse Language, Strong Horror Themes, Horror Violence’ and the Brits gave it an 18, with a note for ‘Sexual violence, suicide references’.
Young People Working With Organisations
Posted on 23 May 2019 by Kaya
We asked Kaya, one of our Youth Advisory Panel members, to share her thoughts around the importance of young people working with organisations.
New Zealand Youth Week
Posted on 21 May 2019 by Chief Censor David Shanks
New Zealand Youth Week is a great time to celebrate young people by recognising their contributions and achievements. The Office of Film and Literature Classification understands that our decisions affect young people, and so it is essential we include them in our work. Our Youth Advisory Panel is made up of a diverse group of individuals from all over the Wellington region. They regularly meet to discuss various issues and experiences and share their insights with us.
We have members who are heavily into politics and current affairs, and others who just love to watch movies! Each has a valuable perspective and knowledge to share and one thing they have in common is their passion for youth voice. Let me share with you some of the amazing things they have done over the past year…
Chief Censor: That "c" word
Posted on 31 May 2018 by Chief Censor David Shanks
I’ve been reflecting on the recent media coverage about the ‘menstruation issue’ of Critic student magazine. It was the liberal use of the “c” word (censorship) that caught my attention, as you might expect.
Censorship can be an ugly thing. But every country needs to find an approach that works to balance freedom of speech, and the harms that can ensue from abuse of that freedom.
The handy model of brain development
Posted on 01 May 2018 by Dr Claire Henry, Massey University
It can be a minefield to figure out what media content is suitable for young people in your care, how they might react to it, and how to discuss what they see in movies, TV shows, and video games.
You may have wondered: How does a teenager’s brain work? Why do they seem to think with their emotions? How do I talk to kids about sensitive issues that come up in the media? With 30 years of experience in the youth health sector, Dr Sue Bagshaw from the Collaborative Trust became our helpful guide to understanding the challenges and opportunities that media content can present for young people and their parents.
Parents, we need to talk...
Posted on 01 January 2018 by Lily
For the past couple of months, the OFLC has been working in partnership with some amazing people to create resources for parents and caregivers that offer realistic, easy to implement strategies aimed at helping you communicate with the young people in your life. These resources aren’t aimed at inducing guilt or telling you to be better: we know you’re doing the best you can. We know these conversations can be hard. We just want to put more tools in your toolbox, and make it easier for you to do the things you want to be doing already.
Algorithmedia
Posted on 11 December 2017 by Shiyi
The internet is buzzing about creepy YouTube videos at the moment. The first article to really catapult this issue into the mainstream was Something is Wrong on the Internet, which is lengthy but well worth reading as it details some of the immediate concerns around these videos.
A lot of the discourse that has come out since then has focussed on the mere existence of these videos; a concern that these videos are not just unsettling but that they are inappropriate for children, and yet are being targeted at them - and the wool is being pulled over parents’ eyes because of the way that these videos are being presented.
That is a problem, but we all need to take a collective step back and breathe. This kind of confusion isn’t new. What is new is the scale in which this kind of confusion is occurring, and the fact that much of this problematic content is being created for and targeted at children (generally pre-schoolers), on the back of new digital marketing forces that no-one seems to fully understand.
Monte Casino: A primer on loot boxes
Posted on 08 November 2017 by Shiyi
We’ve had a few emails about loot boxes lately – mostly to do with their similarity to gambling, and that they’re accessible to children.
Loot boxes have become increasingly visible in the videogame landscape, and are included in big budget games such as Middle Earth: Shadow of War, Overwatch, and the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront 2, with little examination of the potential harms that can arise from such systems
Taking control, part deux: It's a jungle out there
Posted on 03 November 2017 by the Information Unit
We know that people like seeing our official, trusted classification information on online streaming platforms, but unfortunately the law hasn't kept up with the times. And so there's currently no legal enforcement of this.
The good news is that many entertainment platforms do choose to use our classifications for their NZ storefronts - because this is what their customers want. Two good examples are Google Play Movies and movies on iTunes: when you sign in from a New Zealand account, it's our home grown classifications you see.
Unfortunately, glitches in the matrix do occur from time to time. Sometimes we find that the classification being advertised isn't the classification we gave it.
This happened recently with the film Super Dark Times on Google Play and iTunes when it was advertised with a G rating but actually classified as R16.
Continue reading Taking control, part deux: It's a jungle out there
Chief Censor: Porn, jobs, money – the real story
Posted on 02 November 2017 by Chief Censor David Shanks
The future of censorship has been in the news again. A Stuff article titled “Classification Office refocuses future due to lack of pornos and an evolving digital future” has attracted some attention lately.
This article is long on potentially confusing comment and light on facts. Let me put the record straight. Most people don’t realise that we are both government and industry funded. The Classification Office has received just under $2M in government funding since it was established in 1994. This reflects the work we do for government officials – examining and classifying material that has been seized by the Police, Customs or other authorities.
Continue reading Chief Censor: Porn, jobs, money – the real story
