Media products are controlled in different ways, and the controls have three separate names. Regulation means setting and enforcing the rules for media content: it decides what may be shown, published or broadcast, and what happens to a company that breaks those rules. Classification means placing content into age categories, such as a film rating, so audiences can see who a product suits. Certification means confirming that a product has been officially rated or approved, such as a game that carries a rating symbol on its box. Classification and certification often go together: a body classifies the content, and the symbol on the product shows it has been certified.
There is no single organisation for all media. The responsible body depends on the type of product being made.
| Product type | Responsible body | Full name |
|---|---|---|
| Adverts | ASA | Advertising Standards Authority |
| Broadcasting (TV and radio) and telecommunications | Ofcom | The Office of Communications |
| Films and video products | BBFC | British Board of Film Classification |
| Computer and video games | PEGI | Pan European Game Information |
Imagine you plan a cartoon character for a smoothie advert. The advert falls to the ASA. If you then make a short animated film starring the same character, the BBFC classifies it. If you turn it into a phone game, PEGI rates it. One character, three products, three different bodies, so you must check which one applies at the planning stage.
Ratings are not friendly suggestions: they can restrict who can watch, buy or play something, and regulation can require changes to content. That is why a producer needs to know early on which body is responsible for the product being made, and plan the content, audience and packaging around its rules rather than leaving it until release.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regulates the content of adverts in the UK. This covers adverts on television and radio, in newspapers and magazines, and online, including social media.
The ASA is self-regulatory: the advertising industry writes and follows the rules itself, rather than being controlled directly by the government. The ASA is also funded by the advertising industry, not by government money. This works because advertisers know that if they ignore the rules, their adverts can be stopped.
One of the ASA's main jobs is to make sure adverts do not mislead audiences or exaggerate the quality of products and services. An advert must not make false claims or create a misleading impression about what a product can do or how much it costs. If an advert breaks the rules, the ASA can ban it, so it can no longer be published or broadcast.
| What the advert says | Why it breaks the rules |
|---|---|
| A fruit drink is 'proven to count as two of your five a day' | A health claim with no evidence misleads the audience |
| A phone case is shown as 'completely unbreakable' | Exaggerates quality and suggests something untrue |
| A cereal box is filmed looking twice its real size | Gives a misleading impression of what you get |
The ASA cannot fine advertisers itself, but a ban is still serious. The advert cannot be used, the money spent making it is wasted, and the brand's reputation can be damaged. A banned advert can also attract negative publicity, which may put customers off.
For media production, this means advertising content has to be planned carefully from the start. Any claim you make must be accurate, you should hold evidence to support it, and the finished advert must follow the advertising rules before it is released. A producer checks every headline, image and voiceover in pre-production, because changing an advert after it has been banned costs far more than getting it right first time.
Ofcom (The Office of Communications) is the UK regulator for broadcasting and telecommunications. It sets and enforces the rules for what television and radio can show or broadcast, and it also covers telecoms services such as phone and broadband.
One of Ofcom's main roles is to protect the public from harmful or offensive material. Broadcasters must follow Ofcom's rules about what can be shown or broadcast, including rules that protect audiences from content that is unsuitable for them. For example, Ofcom's rules stop TV programmes that are unsuitable for children being shown before 9pm. Because of this, a producer has to think carefully about who is watching or listening, what time the programme goes out and what the content actually contains.
Ofcom oversees broadcasting licences. A broadcaster needs a licence to operate, and Ofcom can set conditions on that licence. If you are a viewer or listener and you think something on TV or radio broke the rules, you can complain to Ofcom. Ofcom then investigates the complaint and can take action if a broadcaster has broken the rules.
Ofcom's powers include fining organisations and revoking a broadcasting licence. Revoking means taking the licence away, so the broadcaster can no longer broadcast at all. A broadcaster that ignores the rules therefore risks a financial penalty or losing the right to broadcast.
For media production, a television or radio product has to be planned and made to meet these rules from the start, not patched up afterwards. Choosing the audience, the broadcast time and the content carefully keeps a product inside the rules, while ignoring them can mean fines or the loss of the licence.
Ofcom does not regulate the content of adverts; the ASA handles those.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is the organisation that gives films and video products released in the UK an age rating. It judges what is actually in the product and places it in the age band that fits that content. A rating is not a guess about who would enjoy the film: it shows who the content is suitable for.
| Rating | What it means |
|---|---|
| U | Universal — suitable for all ages. |
| PG | Parental guidance — some scenes may not suit young children, so parents should decide. |
| 12A | Cinemas only. An under-12 may watch only if an adult goes with them. |
| 12 | Suitable for age 12 and over. |
| 15 | Suitable for age 15 and over. |
| 18 | Suitable for age 18 and over. |
| R18 | Restricted — adults only, and only shown or sold in specially licensed places. |
It is the content that moves a product up a band, not its style. A cartoon about two friends building a go-kart for a school race, full of slapstick crashes and a dog that keeps stealing the sandwiches, would be a U. Keep the same characters and animation but add a crash where a driver is badly hurt and blood is shown, plus two uses of strong language, and the film would move to at least a 12. Nothing about the drawings changed — only what is shown and heard.
12A is only used for cinema screenings and lets a child under 12 in as long as an adult goes with them. 12 is used when the film is released to watch at home and is suitable only for people aged 12 and over, so there is no 12A version of a home release. One film can carry 12A at the cinema and 12 when it is sold, because the two ratings work in different places.
A rating on a product lets an audience see straight away who it is suitable for, which helps families and friends choose something that fits.
The BBFC does not simply count swear words or seconds of violence. When it classifies a film or video it weighs up a set of factors: violence and gore, theme, horror, language, sex, drug use and nudity. No single factor decides the rating on its own. What matters is how much of each one there is, how it is presented, and how it fits with the rest of the product.
For each rating the BBFC publishes guidelines. They set a limit for every factor: violence, imitable dangerous or anti-social behaviour, glamorised weapons, discriminatory language, drug misuse, bad language, nudity, sexual content and frightening sequences. The limit is different at each rating, so the same issue can be acceptable at one rating and not at another. One scene where a pupil is laughed at in class can sit inside a 12, but a film that piles on scene after scene of bullying will be pushed higher.
Violence is judged on how it is shown, not only how much is shown: a punch in a slapstick comedy is treated differently from the same punch shown close up with blood. Imitable dangerous behaviour and glamorised weapons are taken seriously because younger viewers may copy what they see, so an escape trick with a kitchen knife that a child could try at home can raise a rating even when nobody is hurt. Frightening sequences are judged the same way, because a jump scare an adult shrugs off can genuinely upset an eight-year-old.
Worked example: a producer planning a 12-rated adventure film checks the guidelines during pre-production. A character sliding down a banister and being copied in the playground may stay within 12 if it is clearly shown to be foolish, but a scene showing a character tortured with a power tool would push the film to 15 or 18. Spotting that before filming lets the producer change the scene rather than lose the audience they were aiming at.
PEGI (Pan European Game Information) rates computer and video games across Europe. It is a European system, not a UK-only one, so the same badge appears on game packaging and store pages in many different countries. The rating is based on what is in the game, so it tells buyers and players who a game is suitable for.
| Rating | Who it is suitable for | Typical content |
|---|---|---|
| PEGI 3 | Ages 3 and over | Nothing that is likely to frighten a young child |
| PEGI 7 | Ages 7 and over | Cartoon-style scenes that might scare very young children |
| PEGI 12 | Ages 12 and over | Mild fantasy violence or mild bad language |
| PEGI 16 | Ages 16 and over | Realistic violence, stronger language or horror atmosphere |
| PEGI 18 | Ages 18 and over | Graphic violence or strong adult themes |
Each rating means "suitable for this age and over". A PEGI 7 game is fine for a 10-year-old, not just for 7-year-olds. A high rating is not a ban: it simply limits the game to older players.
PEGI looks at what is actually in the game, including:
So a game where characters bop each other with cartoon hammers might stay at PEGI 7, while one showing realistic fighting could be pushed several bands higher, because younger players may copy what they see or find it frightening. In-game purchases work differently: they do not change the age band, but the game gets an in-game purchases notice next to the badge, warning buyers that it may cost more than the price on the box.
An age rating is worked out from what is actually in a product, not from who the producer hopes will watch or play it. That links content and rating together: a punch thrown in close-up, a rude joke or a scene that keeps the tension going can push a product into an older category, whatever the original plan was.
Producers choose the audience first, and the rating follows. A team making an animated film for family viewing checks the script against the guidance for that category while it is still being written, so anything likely to push it up a band is caught early. A studio building a puzzle game for young children might fill it with friendly robots and cartoon bumps, but must keep the scares gentle and the language mild to stay in the low age band they want.
The rating is decided at the end, but the decisions that cause it are made in pre-production. Changing a script, a storyboard or a level design before anything is filmed or coded costs far less than re-editing a finished product, or discovering too late that the content no longer suits the audience you were aiming at.
People need to see the rating before they pay, so it appears on packaging and promotional material such as a box, a poster, a trailer or an online store page. Planning documents must make room for it: the layout plan for a magazine advert, for example, needs a space where the symbol will sit.
Ratings restrict access — a cinema can refuse entry to a child, and a shop cannot sell an age-restricted game to someone below its rating — and they help audiences judge whether content is suitable. So compliance shapes the whole project: themes, language, images and marketing all have to fit the category chosen. A producer who ignores this risks a higher rating than planned, a smaller audience, or a product retailers will not stock.