The BBFC is an abbreviation for the “British Board of Film Classification”. This is a non-governmental body, which has exercised responsbility over the cinema for just over 100 years.
The British Board of Film Censors, began in 1912 (what has now become the British Board of Film Classification), when local authorities started to impose their own, widely varying, censorship standards on films. This created an additional job for local authorities, who felt that it was their responsibility to protect the public from certain media. Arguably at the time, it could have been done better, and so this is why the BBFC began.
The BBFC was out there to focus solely on looking at films and assessing who should be able to see them. The aim was to create a team within the BBFC who, not only had a very good understanding of films and their effects on society, but also a team which the public could rely on to make the right judgement of certain media.
The BBFC then had the job of trying to win the trust of the local authorities, Parliament, the press and also the public, so that it could become a successful body which would be used. Fortunately, the BBFC grew and became more and more trusted, until in the mid-1920s it was common for local authorities to simply accept the decisions of the BBFC with little or no negotiation.
However, the BBFC is not law and local areas are still able to adjust the classification of films accordingly as they see fit. This may be important if a certain area is more vulnerable to certain media than others.
However, as far as law goes, in 1984 Parliament passed the Video Recordings Act. This was an act which stated that video recordings offered for sale or hire in the UK must be classified by an authority designated by the Secretary of State. It was at this point that the British Board of Film Censors, became the British Board of Film Classifications, as this was the fundamental job of the body.
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