Do you believe that you have the right to decide what you watch on TV? Paul Tavener from the Campaign for Censor Free TV thinks so, as do most members of the public, according to recent polls. Unfortunately the current television regulator (the ITC) takes a very different view. They believe that they have the right to decide what is appropriate for you and other adults to watch on TV regardless of your opinion or the public’s wishes. Consequently explicit sex is not and has never been broadcast on any channel at any time in the UK.
The ITC argued that the public wouldn’t tolerate explicit sex on television until their own survey showed that they would. They argued that some people might be offended, but people won’t pay to watch what they don’t like. They argued that children would be harmed, but explicit sex has been broadcast and adequately regulated by adults across virtually all of continental Europe for many years without serious problems, channels can now be PIN protected by parents and there is no evidence of any harm caused to anyone.
The ITC will not accept that the world has changed, but they have now finally stopped arguing. The reason they have stopped arguing is because they will be scrapped later this year. The Government has decided that TV regulation needs modernising and will replace the ITC with a new regulator called Ofcom in December.
Ofcom intend to review all aspects of TV regulation and they will be asking the public for their views this summer. Ofcom will be in a much better position to relax censorship than the ITC, but they will only act if they receive sufficient support from the public when they ask.
Some may say that a campaign against sexual censorship is only of interest to men, but this is not true. It is in everybody’s interest to fight for freedom of expression. Many women may find that existing erotic entertainment sadly lacking (and many men would agree). But it is only by lifting the existing restrictions that there can be any hope of improvement. Censorship chokes innovation and stifles change. The erotic entertainment industry needs to experiment with new ideas and new audiences but first it must be set free.
If you believe in freedom of expression and you want to decide what is appropriate for you to watch on TV in your own home then write to me at censorfreetv@hotmail.com and have your say in the fight against censorship of television this summer when the regulators ask.
The time has come for the TV regulator to respect the wishes of the British public instead of the British public having to respect the wishes of the TV regulator.
Further information can be found here:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ptavener/documents/SFCfullarticle.htm or by contacting Paul Tavener at censorfreetv@hotmail.com.
