Censorship in New Zealand - information for students
How censorship works
Films
The Classification Office mainly deals with films and DVDS. Different sorts of films go through different classification processes. In this section you will find out about the censorship of films today, and how they were treated in the past.
Books and magazines
Very few books and magazines are classified each year. This is because they don't have to be submitted being supplied to the public – but they still have to comply with the law.
Music
Music doesn't have to be classified before it is supplied to the public. Most of the warning labels which appear on music are put there by the industry, meaning that music CDs are only classified if there is a complaint about them.
Computer technology
As things become increasingly digital, the types of publications being classified changes. We now classify many computer files, both moving videos and still images. New Zealand's censorship law also applies to some content on the internet.
Games
Video games are a huge source of entertainment for a number of New Zealanders. In this section you'll find information on how video games are classified, including a list of all the games that are restricted or banned in New Zealand.
Cellphones
Files on a cellphone, such as text messages, pictures and moving images can be classified. Find out more!
