Chinese-owned television
company, StarSat, is currently the target of growing discontent in South Africa.
The discontent is against On Digital Media (ODM), which is on Star Sat's
pay-television platform. So intense is the anger towards StarSat that an
application has been filed in court for the revocation of ODM's licence for a
pornographic bouquet.
ODM, supported by its
Chinese financial backer StarTimes, began broadcasting two pornographic TV
channels – Private Spice and Playboy TV – in a separate StarSat sex TV package
last November 2013. This was shortly after being granted a licence by the South
African broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of
South Africa (ICASA).
Subscriber figures for
the four year old South African pay-TV operator, currently in business rescue,
have dipped to between 100 000 and 120 000 from 150 000 a few years ago.
Leading the
opposition to the porn broadcast is the group, Doctors for Life, which
represents 1, 400 doctors. The non-governmental body, which submitted a court
application at the High Court in Pretoria, has now seen its application being
joined to the applications of the Justice Alliance of South Africa (JASA) and
the Cause for Justice organisations that submitted their applications in the
Western Cape High Court.
JASA and Cause for
Justice contend that South Africa’s broadcasting regulator, which initially rejected ODM’s porn channels
application before approving it a year later, acted illegally by failing to
consider that the constitutional rights of children outweigh the rights of
StarSat’s freedom of expression.
In its application, Doctors
for Life, contends among other things, that pornographic images are addictive
and have the potential to be harmful to the human brain in ways similar to those
of substances like heroin, cocaine and LSD. Doctors for Life based its position
on a recent study by German doctors, which suggest that watching pornography
may result in reduction in the activity of certain areas of the brain.
The
new study discovers that men that watch a lot of pornography tend to have less
gray matter volume as well as less activity in the region of the brain linked
to rewards.
The
results of the study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, show that the brain region
activated when people view sexual stimuli is less active in men who watch a lot
of pornography. It also shows the part of the brain associated with processing
rewards is smaller in men who view pornography more often.
JASA, through its application, is requesting the court to review
the broadcasting regulator’s decision in granting a licence for porn television
channels to StarSat, formerly TopTV, and for ICASA to ensure a correct
application of the law and broadcasting regulations.
The current wave of anger is a continuation of what
began last year, when ODM (operating as TopTV) was
licensed to broadcast three adult content channels--Playboy TV, Desire TV, and
Private Spice in South Africa. Late last year, ODM's shareholders voted to
accept the business rescue plan offered by StarTimes, following a slump in
fortunes.
The rescue plan was, however, hit by a
gust of public disapproval, chiefly from
South African religious organisations.
South Africa's Muslim Judicial Council,
MJC, which described ICASA's decision to grant licence for pornographic
broadcast as as "inconsistent". Nabeweya Mallick, spokesperson for
the MJC, said the council was "disappointed," at ICASA's
insensitivity to the rights of tastes of religious and race groups and
cultures.
"We feel they have really failed the
standards set by ICASA. If one is sensitive to the rights of these groups...
what about the rights of women?" asked Mallick.
ODM was launched in 2010 as TopTV with 68per
cent black ownership and the aim to provide viewers with more choice and
affordability. Given the success of MultiChoice, investors dived in and pouring
in huge amounts to support the new offering. However, things went awry and the
company was placed under business rescue. At the time it went under rescue,
subscriber numbers were between 140,000 and 150,000. Original estimates were
that the company would break even at 350,000 subscribers.
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