BSA Decisions Ngā Whakatau a te Mana Whanonga Kaipāho

Summary  

[This summary does not form part of the decision.] 

The Authority has not upheld a complaint about comments made on The Edge Full Noise Workday in support of free emergency contraceptive pills being handed out at an Olivia Rodrigo concert during her North American tour. In the context, the comments were considered unlikely to cause widespread disproportionate offence or distress or undermine widely shared community standards. With regard to the promotion of illegal or antisocial behaviour standard, the Authority noted that such contraceptive pills are a legal medication in New Zealand and their use is not considered ‘serious antisocial behaviour’ as contemplated by the standard.

Not Upheld: Offensive and Disturbing Content, Promotion of Illegal or Antisocial Behaviour

The broadcast

[1]  During a segment of The Edge Full Noise Workday on 18 March 2024, the host commented on the pop singer Olivia Rodrigo having free emergency contraceptives (also known as “Plan B” or the “morning-after pill”) available to fans at concerts during her North American tour.¹ The host made comments as follows:

Olivia Rodrigo is getting some heat online at the moment for the fact that she is giving out the morning-after pill at her shows. I think it’s amazing. I think it’s so hard to get the morning-after pill, especially in places that abortion is illegal, as well. Incredible stuff. But people are not sure if it should be around kids, all that stuff, I just don’t think kids would even be aware what that even was and I don’t think that people should be getting all up in arms about it.

The complaint

[2]  Sudesh Lourdes complained that the broadcast breached the offensive and disturbing content, and promotion of illegal or antisocial behaviour standards of the Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand on the basis the host was encouraging ‘females to sleep around and then kill the baby’. They added:

• The host was encouraging murder and saying it was a good thing.
• Emergency contraception is a sensitive topic and is not suitable to be discussed on radio.
• The host did not consider different religious beliefs in New Zealand which may not approve of emergency contraception.

The broadcaster’s response

[3]  MediaWorks did not uphold Lourdes’ complaint for the following reasons:

• The host did not encourage people to sleep around and then have an abortion.
• The host was clear she was offering her opinion on a controversial online topic and later asked listeners to text in with their views, showing she was open to other points of view.
• The Edge has a target audience of 18–39-year-olds. The complaint ‘overstates [the host’s] actual comments which we believe would not have been considered offensive or distressing to most regular listeners of The Edge’.
• The comments did not amount to promoting antisocial or illegal behaviour.

The standards

[4]  The purpose of the offensive and disturbing content standard² is to protect audiences from viewing or listening to broadcasts that are likely to cause widespread disproportionate offence or distress or undermine widely shared community standards.³ The standard takes into account the context of the programme, and the wider context of the broadcast, as well as information given by the broadcaster to enable the audience to exercise choice and control over their viewing or listening.

[5]  The purpose of the promotion of illegal or antisocial behaviour standard⁴ is to prevent broadcasts that encourage audiences to break the law, or are otherwise likely to promote criminal or serious antisocial activity.⁵ Context, and the audience’s ability to exercise choice and control, are crucial in assessing a programme’s likely practical effect.⁶

Our analysis

[6]  We have listened to the broadcast and read the correspondence listed in the Appendix.

[7]  As a starting point, we considered the right to freedom of expression. It is our role to weigh up the right to freedom of expression – which includes the broadcaster’s right to offer a range of content and programming, as well as the audience’s right to receive that content – against any harm potentially caused by the broadcast. We recognise that certain comments and statements can affect some communities differently due to religious or cultural beliefs, but we may only intervene when the limitation on the right to freedom of expression is demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.⁷

Offensive and Disturbing Content

[8]  Attitudes towards taste and decency differ widely and continue to evolve in a diverse society such as ours. The right of freedom of expression protects broadcasters’ right to offer a wide range of content, to appeal to a broad audience. The standard does not prohibit the broadcast of material that is not to everyone’s taste or that some people may find challenging. Rather, it ensures broadcasts fall within the broad limit of not causing widespread disproportionate offence or distress, or seriously undermining widely shared community standards.⁸

[9]  Context is crucial when assessing complaints under this standard.⁹ We considered the following contextual factors to be relevant in this case:

• This segment of The Edge Full Noise Workday was broadcast at approximately 12:30pm on a weekday. The relevant comment was brief and made up approximately 48 seconds of a total 5-hour broadcast.
• The Edge has a target audience of 18–39-year-olds.
• The discussion of edgy or controversial material is consistent with the style of content and humour regularly broadcast on The Edge.¹⁰
• Contraception is widely taught in New Zealand primary schools as part of relationships and sexuality education¹¹, and the emergency contraceptive pill is a widely available medication that can be prescribed and purchased from pharmacies.¹²
• The host briefly referred to abortion, saying ‘I think it’s so hard to get the morning-after pill, especially in places that abortion is illegal, as well.’ We do not consider this to be promotion of abortion, but the host’s opinion on access to emergency contraception in some states in America.¹³ The host does not mention or promote ‘sleeping around’.

[10]  We acknowledge that the host spoke positively about the emergency contraceptive pill being available to fans at the concert, and that this topic may be uncomfortable to some listeners. However, we do not consider the discussion of contraceptives to be likely to cause widespread disproportionate offence or distress or undermine widely shared community standards.

[11]  We find no breach of the offensive and disturbing content standard.

Promotion of Illegal or Antisocial Behaviour

[12]  The complainant has alleged the broadcast was ‘advertising bad morals’ as it promoted ‘murder’ and ‘abortion’ as well as encouraging young women to ‘sleep around and then kill the baby’. As noted above, the broadcast did no more than comment on the availability of emergency contraception to fans at a music concert. In any case, abortion and emergency contraception are both legal medical procedures in New Zealand. We also do not consider those choosing such legal procedures to be engaging in ‘serious antisocial behaviour’ as contemplated under the standard.

[13]  In light of this and the factors outlined at paragraph [9], we do not consider there was any potential harm caused by the broadcast to warrant regulatory intervention. Upholding the complaint would unreasonably limit the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression, as well as the audience’s right to receive the content of their choosing.

For the above reasons the Authority does not uphold the complaint.

Signed for and on behalf of the Authority

John Gillespie 

Acting Chair

26 June 2024

Appendix

The correspondence listed below was received and considered by the Authority when it determined this complaint:

1  Sudesh Lourdes’ formal complaint – 22 March 2024

2  MediaWorks’ response to the complaint – 20 April 2024

3  Lourdes’ referral to the Authority – 27 April 2024

4  MediaWorks’ further comment – 13 May 2024

¹ Alaina Demopoulos “Morning-after pill handed out at Olivia Rodrigo concert in Missouri – where abortion is banned” The Guardian (online ed, 13 March 2024)
² Standard 1, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand 
³ Commentary, Standard 1, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand at page 8
⁴ Standard 3, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand
⁵ Commentary, Standard 3, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand at page 11
⁶ Guideline 3.1
⁷ Introduction, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand at page 4
⁸ Commentary, Standard 1, Code of Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand at page 9
⁹ Guideline 1.1
¹⁰ See Ahern and MediaWorks Radio Ltd, Decision No. 2014-063 at [12] for a similar finding
¹¹ Ministry of Education, “Relationships and Sexuality Education: A guide for teachers, leaders and boards of trustees” (2020) at pages 33, 41
¹² Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa (formerly Family Planning New Zealand) “Emergency contraceptive pill (ECP)”
¹³ See Nikki McCann Ramirez “The Right is Cracking Down on Abortion and IVF. Is ‘Recreational Sex’ Next?” Rolling Stone (online ed, 23 February 2024), Mara Santilli “Roe V. Wade Reversal: Will It Affect Access To Plan B and Contraception?” Forbes (online ed, 14 August 2023), Jacquline Howard “More US pharmacists can now prescribe birth control, and soon, some patients won’t need prescriptions at all” CNN (online ed, 12 January 2024) for further coverage