The purpose of regulation is to control and protect, by controlling what people watch and consume then they are protecting the young and vulnerable who may be affected by possible harmful content. Film is regulated by the BBFC which is non-statutory and no controlled by the government, OFCOM is regulated by the government and games are regulated by PEGI. Over they years they have become more liberal with there being more violence and explicit content being allowed, this is because of how society has changed and developed. Despite them becoming more liberal OFCOM doesn't make to drastic changes this is because they are a government controlled regulation body and because they regulate TV they have to take into consideration that everyone of all ages watches TV, because they are more widely watched they have to be mindful of desensitisation and how with the public needing more content that is developed and evolved from what they watch theirs a chance that over time people will become desnsitised to things like violence.
Regulation should become a bit stricter in order to protect desensitisation from happening so that people aren't insensitive to things. However with the changes in society and things like the snowball effect, regulation will become less strict and will rely more on self regulation so that people can watch what they want.
The gradual way the BBFC has become more liberal shows how society has changed, for example the video nasties in 1980's like Evil Dead which was banned due to moral panic about imitable behaviour. Which lead to the 1984 Video Recording Act which meant that all films had to get a film classification. However it was re released in 2001 with an 18 age rating. This shows the difference from when the C in BBFC stood for censorship when it was first made to now that it means Classification. Therefore showing how liberal society has become. As they had not banned a film since 2011 where they banned Human Centapiede 2 until there were 32 cuts made and it was released with a 18 rating, and since then there has only been one other Hate Crime.
From looking at are film case studies Deadpool rated 15, and 50 shades of grey are good examples to show how society accepts different things. The reason films with violence can get 18 certificate ratings is because of the Copycat theory and a fear that people especially children may imitate the behaviour. Deadpool is a comic book film and is stereotypical aimed for children however because it's rated 15 it shows that it's meant for a older audience and how they require more violence in the films. The reason the two films reflect social change is because it shows the desensitisation of the public. Deadpool has consistent strong language and has some sexual references. 50 shades of grey is based around BDSM and two people in a consensual relationship.The case studies show we have more tolerance to violence then sex. 50 shades of grey has sexual content and context however it's not graphic and there is no full nudity. Violence can be seen as catharsis for people however there's a higher chance of the public becoming desensitised, and it shows a fear people have of showing younger viewers different contents and depictions of sex life that aren't realistic.
