Control of the content and presentation of
films. Film censorship dates back almost as
far as the cinema. In Britain, censorship was
established in 1912, in the USA 1922. In some
countries, self-regulation of the industry
has not been regarded as sufficient; in the
Soviet Union, for example, state censorship
has forbidden the treatment of certain
issues. Censorship in Britain was the
responsibility of the British Board of Film
Censors (now the British Board of Film
Classification) which gives each film a
rating. In Britain, children were not
prevented from seeing certain films until
1933, when the `H' (for `horrific')
certificate was introduced. In the USA,
censorship was not established until 1922
with the founding of the Motion Picture
Producers and Distributors of America (see
Hays Office).