Censorship Bureau: Difference between revisions

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== Television ==

* The American FCC, since it a) charges ''very'' large fines for violating the standards for programs in media it has authority over (mainly broadcast television and radio), and b) ''refuses to publish a list of those standards''; they can't file criminal charges. Those fines started at $27,500 and went up to $325,000 after Janet Jackson flashed the audience at the 2004 [[Super Bowl]]. The record is $1.2 million, for a [[FOX]] reality show called ''Married by America'' in which someone licked whipped cream off a woman's censored nipples~~. The penalty ($7000 per station) was reduced dramatically on appeal; the show didn't last past its first season~~.

* The American FCC, since it a) charges ''very'' large fines for violating the standards for programs in media it has authority over (mainly broadcast television and radio), and b) ''refuses to publish a list of those standards''; they can't file criminal charges. Those fines started at $27,500 and went up to $325,000 after Janet Jackson flashed the audience at the 2004 [[Super Bowl]]. The record is $1.2 million, for a [[FOX]] reality show called ''Married by America'' in which someone licked whipped cream off a woman's censored nipples.

** Much of the backlash against the 7 April 2003 "Married by America" episode (which ran at 9PM, outside [[watershed]]) was contrived by pressure ~~groups~~, ~~such as~~ the Parents' Television Council, who orchestrated hundreds of identical ~~FCC~~ complaints ~~(for which the~~ FCC penalised not just the network's owned-and-operated stations, but small-town affiliates owned independently). ~~One low-power broadcaster,~~ WNYF-CA ~~(Fox 28)~~ in Watertown NY (pop 27000), objected that ~~not one~~ of the ~~complaints~~ ~~against~~ ~~that station were from any community~~ where viewers could ~~actually~~ receive ~~WNYF's~~ then-minuscule signal; the FCC [https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/broadcast/Pleadings/United_Communications.pdf fined them anyway].

** Much of the backlash against the 7 April 2003 "Married by America" episode (which ran at 9PM, outside [[watershed]]) was contrived by a pressure group, the Parents' Television Council, who orchestrated hundreds of identical complaints. The FCC penalised not just the network's owned-and-operated stations, but a long list of small-town affiliates (which are owned independently). WNYF-CA in Watertown NY (pop 27000) objected that none of the complainants lived anywhere where viewers could receive their then-minuscule low power TV signal; the FCC [https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/broadcast/Pleadings/United_Communications.pdf fined them anyway]. The network appealed to the courts; this was scaled back from $7000 each for every station carrying the Fox TV network to just the stations in the markets from which someone sent the FCC the form-letter complaint. The show, meanwhile, was panned by reviewers and didn't last past its first season.

** [[Family Guy|Well, one complaint represents]] [[Take That|one billion people]].

* The Office of Communications (Ofcom) plays a similar role in the UK (although it should be noted Ofcom deals primarily with things like lying to viewers and porn channels).