Censor Watch

A week before the scheduled launch of the latest book by Professor Frank Furedi, the executive director of the leading conservative think tank MCC (Mathias Corvinus Collegium) Brussels, the bookstore that previously agreed to host the event cancelled the event saying:

After careful consideration, we have found out that the political connotation of the initiative is more strongly marked than we initially understood. Our venue has always maintained a line of neutrality, this choice allows us to ensure an inclusive space that respects all sensibilities.

The event was supposed to take place on Monday, September 30th, in the Piola.libri bookstore, just a few minutes' walk from the European Commission's headquarters and other major EU institutions.

In their press release, MCC explained that the critically acclaimed book, The War Against the Past, explores today's cultural crusade against Western history which is being increasingly dismissed as toxic. From the toppling of statues to the removal of historical terms from everyday vocabulary, Furedi examines the growing effort to cast the past in a negative light.

The MCC has secured an alternative venue for the book launch, which will be announced shortly.

The Australian Censorship Board (ACB) has announced new censorship rules about gambling content in video games. The ACB writes:

Over the last decade, video games have increased and so has gambling-like content in these games. This includes:

• In-game purchases with an element of chance, such as paid loot boxes. These are mystery items players can use real money to buy, without knowing what item they will get.

• Simulated gambling including casino-style video games.

Research has found that gambling-like content in video games is linked to problem gambling in real-life, as well as psychological and emotional harm. To address these findings the Australian Government has introduced new classifications for video games containing gambling-like content.

From 22 September 2024, the Australian Government has introduced new classifications to video games that contain gambling like content. These changes are in response to growing community concern for children and research findings that links gambling-like content in video games to problem gambling in real-life, as well as psychological and emotional harm.

The new classifications that will be displayed for video games with gambling-like content are:

• M (Mature, not recommended for children under 15) for computer games containing in-games purchases linked to elements of chance, including paid loot boxes (these are mystery items players can use real money to buy, without knowing what item they will get)

• R 18+ (Restricted to adults 18 years and over) for computer games containing simulated gambling.

The changes will apply to games on computers, gaming consoles, phones and tablets.

The consumer advice for new video games that contain gambling-like content will say:

• Chance-based in-game purchases for video games containing in-game purchases linked to elements of chance, like loot-boxes.

• High-impact simulated gambling for video games containing simulated gambling.

• Gambling themes for video games containing content which may resemble gambling, but does not meet the threshold for simulated gambling.

The new classifications will be applied to new video games. The new classifications will not be applied to existing games, unless they are updated with new content and need to be reclassified.

Australian children could soon be banned from accessing social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, with the federal  government set to bring in new censorship legislation before the end of the year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that his government would introduce legislation to enforce a minimum age for access to social media. He said:

We are taking this action because enough is enough. Parents are worried sick about this. The safety and mental and physical health of our young people is paramount. Legislation will be introduced before the end of the year after a trial of age verification.

Albanese said he wanted to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields, swimming pools and tennis courts.

South Australia has already proposed banning children under 13 and a parental consent required for children between the ages of 14 and 15.

The federal government has not specified a minimum age for its national framework. The Prime Minister said there would be an age verification trial over the next couple of months.

Acting union Equity has criticised a growing culture of censorship after a play was cancelled, reportedly in a dispute over references to the Israel-Gaza war and trans rights. Equity said it was deeply frustrated at the lack of transparency over the cancellation, and that it was speaking to theatre bosses to protect the principle of artistic freedom. An Equity statement reads:

We reject the growing culture of censorship created by funders and pressure groups. We are fighting for artistic integrity, as well as dignity for our members, and all working people.

We remain in conversation with Royal Exchange management to protect the principle of artistic freedom, guarantee our members' dignity at work, and ensure the integrity of our collective agreements.

The Royal Exchange, Manchester's main producing theatre, has scrapped its entire five-week run of a modern retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream .

The theatre has said that the play faced a number of challenges. It said those challenges included injuries, a delayed technical week and changes late in the process.

The Manchester Evening News reported , external that the show, set in the city's present-day rave scene, was axed after managers objected to a song with lyrics that referred to trans rights and the phrase free Palestine.

Theatre newspaper The Stage reported , external that one of the points of contention was free Palestine being daubed on the set as well as featuring in a rap.

Wild is a 2016 Germany drama by Nicolette Krebitz.
Starring Lilith Stangenberg and Georg Friedrich and Nelson.

Not submitted to the BBFC but it is available online on MUBI and Amazon Prime with a self applied 16+ rating. The film contains a scene where a wolf licks a woman's explicitly naked vagina.

Thanks to Mike who comments:

Wild is a highly regarded arthouse film about relationships, focusing on a discontented woman who starts a romantic relationship with a wolf....

Never seen in the UK before, it's recently been picked by MUBI. Not sure whether they intend to release it on physical media, but at the moment you can see it on the MUBI website and even on amazon prime video in the UK.

To cut a long story short, at around 52:30, there's a scene where a naked woman sitting on a toilet has her vagina (explicitly) licked for around 10 seconds by a wolf.

Presumably it's been released on streaming in the UK because it's not illegal under extreme pornography laws. The law and the CPS guidance specifically say that if an image forms part of a sequence of images, we should look to the wider sequence to decide if the image is a pornographic one. In this case the wider sequence of images (i.e. the film) isn't pornographic so the wolf image isn't pornographic and therefore it's legal. If that's true, then it's the first and only case since the act was implemented in 2008 in which a beasty image which would have been illegal in a pornographic film becomes legal in a conventional narrative film.

It is a possibility that MUBI are publishing it because they don't know the law. But that's unlikely - they know full well that the film is controversial, and they frequently submit films to the BBFC for classification on physical media, so they know the rules. They seem not to have submitted this one though.

Summary Notes

A strange encounter with a wild wolf at the edge of Ania's cold, mundane town sets off a deep-seated passion within her, shattering the drudgery of her dull days. Determined to hunt the untamed creature, she finds herself pulled to the natural world as a fearless lust for the wolf grows, eliciting a desire for her own sexuality and a disregard for social graces, repulsing yet attracting everyone around her. As the balance between the natural world and modern civilization begins to tip, so too do Ania's inhibitions, forcing her to question the glaring hypocrisies closing in on her.

Versions

uncut

Amazon Prime 16+

UK: Uncut and MUBI 16+ rated: MUBI/Amazon Prime VoD at UK Amazon