R18 (Restricted 18) is a film or video classification given by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). It is intended to provide a classification for works that do not breach UK law, but exceed what the BBFC considers acceptable in the 18 category. In practice, this means hardcore pornography. Under the terms of the 1984 Video Recordings Act all non-exempt videos sold or distributed within the UK must be given a certificate by the BBFC. The distributor must decide whether a video is exempt. Uncertificated recordings are not illegal, regardless of content (except where the content itself is illegal), but supply (i.e. sale, rental, loan or gift) of them is. The R18 certificate is the most restrictive of the certificates, allowing films in the category to be shown only in specially licensed cinemas, or sold in licensed sex shops; admission to R18-rated films or sale of R18-rated recordings is restricted to persons aged 18 years and over. Background The R18 category was created in 1982 in response to the recommendations in 1979 of the Home Office Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship chaired by Sir Bernard Williams. Originally, the R18 classification was only used for films featuring simulated sex only, but the BBFC found itself forced to award R18 certificates to hardcore films in 2000 after a series of legal appeals and a judicial review of those appeals. The introduction of the R18 certificate for hardcore films is widely seen by observers as a reaction to more liberal attitudes in British society to pornography, the de facto legalisation of the import of hardcore pornography (but not its sale) across EU member countries because of customs law harmonisation, and the widespread availability of unregulated pornography over the Internet. Most cuts made by the BBFC are in the R18 category (e.g., 13.6% of R18 videos were cut in 2011, compared with 7.5% for the 18 category, and 0.5% or less for other categories). On the BBFC website, R18-rated works are filtered out of the main public search (unless an option to show them is selected) as their titles frequently contain profanity and/or vulgar language. Regulation of content The BBFC specifies in detail what kinds of acts are permitted to be depicted in works receiving an R18 certificate, and which are not. In particular, it prohibits: Works judged to be illegal under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Material deemed likely to encourage