M-Net has been fined with R5000 for contravening the Broadcasting Complaints Commission’s Code of Conduct for Subscription Broadcasting. M-Net had scheduled a promo for its Horror Festival that contained scenes from several horror titles which was scheduled across all the M-Net channels to coincide with Halloween.
According to M-Net an internal classification team issued a directive that the promo should only be scheduled after 9.30pm but it was still scheduled for broadcast at 6pm on the 13 October 2010 “in error”.
The BCCSA found that the time slot aggrevated the offence “since this is a time when families are usually at home watching television, and it is before the bed-time of many younger children.”
Scenes of violence and horror
The BCCSA found that, “The video indeed contains graphic scenes of violence and horror as described by the complainants (e.g. “demons and ghosts” and other inexplicable scenes of horror). Most children would, as alleged, be severely disturbed by such images, since they do not have the cognitive ability to process them, or a frame of reference within which to locate them and perhaps make sense of them. The negative emotional and psychological effect of such images would thus be exacerbated, and such effects could even be permanent.”
The fine was imposed as the BCCSA had issued frequent reprimands to M-Net on promos containing scenes with violence broadcast before the watershed.
In another BCCSA judgement issued in December the commission found in favour of Highveld Stereo in a complaint on the use of the word “moffie” (Afrikaans slang for gay) and a song broadcast during The Rude Awakening show.
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