No one younger than 18 may see 18-rated content in a cinema.
No one younger than 18 may rent or buy an 18-rated video.

Adults should be free to choose their own entertainment. Exceptions are most likely in the following areas:

• where material is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence
• where material risks harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society. This may include portrayals of sadistic violence, rape or other non-consensual sexually violent behaviour, particularly where this is made to look appealing, reinforces the suggestion that victims enjoy it, or invites viewer complicity. Other examples may include scenes of drug misuse or suicide/self-harm where the portrayal is sufficiently detailed, glamorised or promotional as to represent a non-trivial harm risk
• where there are more explicit images of sexual activity in the context of pornography

In the case of videos, which may be more accessible to younger viewers, intervention may be more frequent than for cinema films.

Pornography at 18

Pornography is content that, taken as a whole, is designed primarily for the purpose of sexual arousal. Pornography containing only material that may be simulated is generally passed 18. Pornography containing clear images of real sex, strong fetish material, sexually explicit animated images, or other very strong sexual images will be confined to the R18 category. Material that is unacceptable in pornography at R18 is also unacceptable in pornography at 18.