News Ngā Pūrongo o te Wā

The BSA has not upheld a complaint that a clip shown during Seven Sharp of two people pitch invading or ‘streaking’, one of whom was in a wheelchair, breached the promotion of illegal or antisocial behaviour standard. While the Authority acknowledged streaking is illegal at major sporting events, the streaking in the clip occurred at a club football match. The reason the clip was highlighted and presented in a positive light was because one of the streakers was in a wheelchair, which is not a typical occurrence, and because the clip had been shared around the world. Further, at the beginning of the clip the host explicitly commented ‘Pitch invasion is frowned upon these days’. In the circumstances, the Authority found the clip was unlikely to promote or encourage streaking. This and other recently released decisions can be seen here.