Censorship & New Technology

Grand Theft Auto IV: Who is the NZ distributor profiting from this offensive “Crime-Promoting Game”?

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Grand Theft Auto IV (also known as GTA 4) – a computer game formatted for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 – was launched on April 29, 2008 and sold nearly 2.9 million copies in the United States in its first five days.1 The game – made by Two’s Rockstar studio - with first-week worldwide sales [...]

Society’s Submission to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage

Friday, May 9th, 2008

Submission Re: Consultation Paper: “Broadcasting and New Digital Media: Future of Content Regulation”
Ministry of Culture & Heritage January 2008
Society’s responses to Ministry Questions submitted 11 April 2008
Q 1 What concerns are appropriate to be addressed through content regulation.
These concerns should include all content that could be considered “objectionable” and/or “injurious to the public good” [...]

Chief Censor’s Office Report on Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA 4)

Friday, May 9th, 2008

BSA Report on Children’s Television Viewing: Cause for Alarm

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

Media Release: 8 May 2008
The Society is not surprised that over half the sample (56%) of more than 600 adult “primary caregivers” of children aged between six and 13, who were interviewed as part of a report into children’s television viewing habits; were unable to identify 8.30 p.m. as the time after which programmes that [...]

Dr. Craig Anderson: Violent Video Games and Aggression

Sunday, December 9th, 2007

Dr. Craig Anderson from the University of Iowa is one of the most frequently cited and published researchers in the field of video game violence. Anderson’s work has been used in a variety of venues from scholarly publications to State Supreme Court arguments. Anderson research was used in the Illinois video game legislation defense where [...]

Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents Theory, Research, and Public Policy (Oxford University Press, 2006)

Sunday, December 9th, 2007

by Craig A. Anderson, Douglas A. Gentile and Katherine E. Buckley
Description
Violent video games are successfully marketed to and easily obtained by children and adolescents. Even the U.S. government distributes one such game, America’s Army, through both the internet and its recruiting offices. Is there any scientific evidence to support the claims that violent games contribute [...]

Chief Censor’s Annual Report on Hardcore Porn ‘Control’ Cause for Alarm

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

Report 15/11/07
The latest Annual Report of the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) tabled in Parliament yesterday, raises serious issues about its use of tax-payer funds ($3,458,777 held at 30 June 2007) and its lack of disclosure regarding its classification processes, particularly in relation to its clearance of well over 1,000 degrading and gratuitous [...]

Society Raises Concerns Over Dissemination of Objectionable Internet Content

Monday, August 13th, 2007

Media Release 13/08/07
On Thursday night last week The Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced a A$189 million package to deal with the growing problems of internet porn and dissemination of, and availability of, objectionable content to minors via Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The tough measures adopted by the Howard government to stamp out two evils [...]

Minister of Justice Hon Mark Burton On Objectionable Internet Content

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007

Copy of Correspondence between Minister of Justice Hon. Mark Burton and Society
On 6 September 2007 the Minister replied to the Society’s email dated 1 June 2007 (copied below) requesting basic information on steps taken by the government to control the tidal wave of objectionable content (hard core pornography, gratuitous sexual violence and graphic violence etc.) [...]

Society Wants Obscene ‘Police Baton’ Sex Video Approved by Chief Censor, Banned

Sunday, March 11th, 2007

‘Ban baton sex video’
Sunday Star-Times
11 March 2007, A4
A COMMUNITY standards lobby group is asking for a porn video featuring police batons used as “sex toys” to be banned in light of public outrage over historic allegations against police officers.
The Society for Promotion of Community Standards has applied for leave from the chief censor to have [...]