GagWatch

Moves to abolish the world’s oldest film censor, Sweden’s National Board of Film Censors, have stalled.

Two of the parties in the center-right government, the Conservative Moderates and the Liberals, have proposed abolishing film censorship here.

Liberal politician Cecilia Wikström told Swedish Radio news that censorship is an old-fashioned method of trying to prevent people from watching movies, when today it is possible to download any film content over the Internet.

The purpose of the Board of Film Censors is to decide the age limit for movies and to edit out any scenes with heavy violence. The board itself wants to remove its censorship role, and says it hasn’t made a cut in a film in several years.

However, the Christian Democrats - also a member of the governing coalition - halted the plans on the rather spurious basis that censorship of films for adults was needed in order to “protect children.”

Update

Gunnel Arrbäck, head of Sweden’s National Board of Film Censors, has resigned.

Arrbäck told Swedish daily ”Svenska Dagbladet” she had been unable to get her planned changes to the board’s role sanctioned, and would therefore leave her position.

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