The archive / Film, TV and books
1905–1911 · Sweden
Cinemas are corrupting the young!
The cinema
Panic meter
The verdict
Worries about film’s effect on children made Sweden the first country with state film censorship. Censorship for adults was only abolished in 2011.
Reality meter
What was said?
Around 1905, cinemas opened in every Swedish town. They were cheap, dark and full of young people. Teachers, clergymen and newspapers warned that the films taught crime and loose morals, and that the darkness of the auditoriums was a danger in itself.
The result was Statens biografbyrå (the National Board of Film Censors), which began vetting every film on 1 September 1911: the world's first state film censorship.
The verdict: what happened next?
For a century the Board cut and banned films: war films, horror, sex and political films such as Battleship Potemkin. The Riksdag abolished censorship for adults from 1 January 2011; today there are only age ratings for children.
The warning that film in itself would turn young people into criminals never found any support.
Comments 0