Passionately discussed
This led to an intense discussion in the Netherlands during the early 1910s which came to be known as the Bioscope-quaestie (‘cinema question’), that thoroughly stirred up the emotions of many at the time. The pros and cons of supervision, censorship or banning of films was passionately debated, but people soon agreed that, no matter what, children should no longer be allowed unlimited access to all films.
Just as in Germany, the Dutch decided to opt for local film censorship boards. By making an appeal to Article 188, mayors could ban films that were considered to be threats to the public order or obscene. In the end, it was the mayor’s responsibility to ban films. He was allowed, however, ask the advice of third parties – which he did indeed do, and often it ws these local film boards that did the actual censoring. Rotterdam and Sittard were the first cities to institute such boards, and they were followed by many others. In actuality, the regulatory supervision of film screenings was in the hands of these film boards.