The three issues as to why BSA vs Sean Plunket is such a joke
The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruling on Sean Plunket’s platform has triggered outrage from across the political spectrum — but not for the reasons you might think. Strip away the noise, and there are three very different issues at play here — and none of them are as simple as “free speech vs regulation”.
Peters, Seymour slam BSA after online media jurisdiction decision
Winston Peters has accused the Broadcasting Standards Authority of “bordering on fascist” after it concluded it has jurisdiction over the online media service The Platform.
The New Zealand First leader made the comments in an interview with The Platform broadcaster Sean Plunket this morning.
The Broadcasting Standards Authority had just published a decision it could consider a complaint made against The Platform, because the programme “meets the [Broadcasting] Act’s definition of ‘broadcasting'”.
The complaint was regarding comments made by Plunket about karakia and tikanga Māori being “mumbo jumbo”.
RNZ
Yawn.
So much to unpack here.
There are three issues as to why BSA v Sean Plunket is such a joke.
1 — Picking the weakest possible example
It is an insult to our collective intelligence that Sean should be pinged for saying Māori culture is ‘mumbo jumbo’ when Sean has said far more insulting and hateful things than that!
Calling Māori culture ‘mumbo jumbo’ is the sort of thing your Uncle who has a Reality Check Radio subscription and never gets invited to Christmas lunch says.
It’s a garden variety bigotry that is so pathetic it should be given the contempt it deserves by being ignored.
The Māori culture has more mana and power to ever be impacted by what a snotty little alt-Right boy whose last career height was 2010 has to say.
So, it’s a farce to ping him on calling Māori culture ‘mumbo jumbo’!
Plunket is a radioactive hate grifter who has in the past attempted to claim images of starving Gazans were faked, has claimed Māui dolphins were “the Down syndrome kids of marine mammals” that “deserved to die”, has asked if anyone felt sorry for Harvey Weinstein and infamously claimed he was concerned about a mass outbreak of anorexia in Gaza.
And let’s not forget these great moments:
On 12 April 2023, Plunket claimed on The Platform that former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had been hiding her new speaking engagement from the public. After Ardern and The Spinoff confirmed the speaking engagement story was false, Plunket apologised and removed references to the fake Ardern ad from his and The Platform’s social media. He also encouraged his followers to delete any mentions of it as well.[37]
In September 2023, Plunket claimed on The Platform that there were rumours that the media company Stuff had received financial support from the Māori iwi (tribe) Ngāi Tahu, which he claimed contributed to Stuff’s alleged embrace of wokeness and critical race theory. Plunket’s claims were disputed by Stuff’s owner Sinead Boucher, who stated that the company did not have a financial relationship with Ngāi Tahu and suggested that the rumours were motivated by misogyny.[38]
Pinging Sean on calling Tikanga, ‘Mumbo Jumbo’ is like arresting Pol Pot for jaywalking. Not because it isn’t offensive — but because it’s nowhere near the worst of what’s been said.
2 — Of course this is broadcasting
The second issue is the definition itself. Of course Sean is broadcasting, he’s just doing it online so the act probably should extend to him in an age of disinformation and misinformation.
The third issue is the insane overreach by the woke coven of the BSA itself. Not in extending their reach into digital, but in taking this bullshit complaint in the first place!
The BSA are a group of noddy do-gooders who are picking the weakest bullshit to try and pull Sean up on.
It’s a weak complaint that distracts from far more serious issues around media standards.
3 — Follow the money
The biggest reason this is garbage is because the whole thing is not about protecting anyone from Sean’s ‘free speech’, it’s about finding new funding for the BSA!
Levies expected to decrease
The Broadcasting Standards Authority has pointed to challenges in the traditional media landscape as being behind its expectation for revenue from broadcasting levies to follow a downward trajectory.
Freeview is about to be killed, when that happens, what the hell will the BSA rule over?
Radio frequencies and Sky?
The BSA get part of their revenue from the Broadcasters paying licences, if Freeview goes, that’s a lot of revenue the BSA won’t have.
Redefining transmission allows the BSA to take over online broadcasting, and the only question from their point of view now is how do you levy that online broadcast?
One argument will be based on revenue, another argument will be on how many are viewing the content.
This has sweet fuck all to do with ‘broadcasting standards’ and everything to do with finding a new revenue stream once Freeview is switched off.
So:
- I think the BSA are right to extend their oversight into online broadcasts
- I think they are totally wrong on taking this ridiculous compliant when Sean has said things 10,000 times more radioactive and offensive.
- I believe ultimately this is about the BSA finding new revenue streams to be relevant.
Sean Plunket a true professional. Possessed of much wisdom. Not ridiculously biased.
Funny troll bot BTF strikes again!
The BSA only respond to complaints laid against broadcasters, it doesn’t initiate them.
Hardly anyone has complained about Plunker because hardly anyone listens to his ignorant drivel.
Which may be the reason The Platform lost its studio ( how sad). Sean will be broadcasting from his bedroom soon. Which suits his infantile and childish rhetoric.
And before the little sad sacks arrive to scream “censorship”, no one’s being censored, you can still say what you want in a broadcast.
There is however, accountability and personal responsibility. The things right wingers say they believe in, until they don’t.
I find it so dreadfully sad, how social media has hijacked the minds of so many, once decent[?] people to the extent they can only think negatively, spitefully and without their brain in gear. How have we reached this LOW? Even what I feel compelled to write, often feels wrong, but necessary, in order to counteract the vile, hate-filled cyber trolls out there. FGS we are supposed to be human beings, not wild, uncontrolled animals. Plunkett is down a huge hole of his own making, which is proving impossible to get out of, as are many social media “freaks”. Surely it can’t get any worse – but wait, we have an election coming up – fun times ahead? I doubt it!
Good points, Martyn. What do you think about calls by ACT and NZ First to introduce legislation abolishing the BSA? Do you think that the BSA should be merged into the NZ Media Council given the growth of Internet podcasting?