For nearly the entire
history of film production, certain films have been
banned
A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...
by film
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
or review organizations for political or
moral
A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...
reasons or for
controversial
Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opp ...
content, such as
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
,
copyright violation
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...
, and
underage immorality. Censorship standards vary widely by country, and can vary within an individual country over time due to political or moral change.
Many countries have government-appointed or private commissions to censor and
rate productions for film and television exhibition. While it is common for films to be edited to fall into certain rating classifications, this list includes only films that have been explicitly prohibited from public screening. In some countries, films are banned on a wide scale; these are not listed in this table.
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
Chile
China
Commonwealth of Independent States
Comoros
Cuba
Czechoslovakia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark
Djibouti
Egypt
Fiji
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Libya
Macau
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Mauritania
Mexico
Morocco
Myanmar
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
North Korea
Norway
Oman
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Palestine
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Samoa
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Taiwan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Generally speaking, the government itself cannot ban a film, since the United States Supreme Court ruled that films are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in a landmark 1950s decision. Instead of formal government censorship or bans, the film industry has, largely, policed itself through content-based ratings that are awarded to the vast majority of films that are to be publicly exhibited. Sometimes, a filmmaker may make edits to a film to avoid an 'R-rating' or an 'NC-17' rating, but a modern-day, government ban on a film would likely be struck down by the courts.
Uruguay
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zimbabwe
See also
*
List of books banned by governments
Banned books are books or other printed works such as essays or plays which have been prohibited by law, or to which free access has been restricted by other means. The practice of banning books is a form of censorship, from political, leg ...
*
List of banned video games by country
This is a list of video games that have been censored or banned by governments of various states in the world. Governments that have banned video games have been criticized for a correlated increase in digital piracy, limiting business opportun ...
*
Streisand effect
The Streisand effect is an unintended consequences, unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove, or Censorship, censor information, where the effort instead increases public awareness of the information.
The term was coined in 2005 by ...
*
Television censorship
Television censorship is the censorship of television content, either through the excising of certain frames or scenes, or outright banning of televisions in their entirety. Television censorship typically occurs as a result of political or moral ...
Notes
References
External links
A complete list of Finland's banned films until 1997Complete List of movies banned in India
List of banned films
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banned Films
History of film
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