I wonder why.

Censorship, anyone?

You wrote: “The advert is about censorship here.”

I agree. That’s what it should be about. But it isn’t, as I pointed out.

He further wrote: “I could really do without the insane conspiracy theories. Save them for your blog.”

I’m sorry Matthew, whoever you are. I had no idea you had proprietorial rights over this blog’s comments. Thanks anyway for your tacit permission to publish what i like on my own blog. Very liberal of you in the circumstances, in view of your evident displeasure.

It could be that the word Iran in a political context may create dangers to staff and passengers if it arouses anger and hostility.

Qantas are not censoring the ad. They are simply being cautious as they have to be.

I wish you were right, but I fear the ACL does not agree with me – not on the basis of the item you’ve cited.

First, the ACL (unlike me) seems to want to restrict showings of the ad.

My preference would be for Get Up to produce a better and more effective ad (without an unnecessary dual focus) – but I’ll settle for simply making the point, when the opportunity arises as it has here, that the Get Up as currently released includes gratuitous (and most likely inaccurate) commentary about the recent Iranian election results.

The ACL’s position is different. It says:

“It would be disappointing if people responding to Get Up’s plea for money were donating thinking Iranian-style censorship is what the Rudd Government had in mind.”

It refers to: “a misleading campaign comparing the Rudd Government’s cyber safety policy with Iranian-style political repression.”

Actually, I think that’s a smart line of attack for the ACL and other proponents of Internet censorship (which, of course, i’m not).

The ACL is probing the ad’s weakest point. The notion that Rudd and co are trying to bring in an Internet censorship so they can rig elections – or turn Australian society into something more akin to Iran – is crap. Most people will see through that crap, whatever their views on the legitimacy of the recent Iranian election.

That’s another reason why the spurious Iran commentary should ideally be taken out of the Get Up ad, if it is serve its primary overt goal effectively: building mass opposition to the Australian Government’s plans for mandatory Internet censorship.

The Australian Christian Lobby seemingly agree with you and requests Qantas to review the claims before airing the ads.

http://au.christiantoday.com/article/iran-claims-a-long-way-from-truth-about-protecting-kids-online/6635.htm

“Iran claims a long way from truth about protecting kids online”

The ACL also give tacit approval to R rated and X rated pornography

The ACL is “hopeful the current trial results will show that kids can be protected from X and R rated pornography with an opt in system for adults who wish to view this material”

———-

Now the job for the ACL is sift through the millions of sites on the Internet (several million) and rate them according to the standards of the Australian government.

To put it mildly they don’t have the resources and neither does the government or any of it’s agencies particularly that RC material includes a very broad range of material indeed.

Ownership of bestiality is prohibited in Tasmania and Western Australia and seemingly also New Zealand – but not in New South Wales where it has been sold in selected outlets within this State.

The Get-up ad promotes two key ideas: (a) the Australian Government’s censorship plans for the Internet are silly (b) the elections in Iran were rigged.

Do you think that’s mere accident? Or are you happy about the cross-promotion of two quite different campaigns?

I understand that in the circles in which Get Up people and their ad industry friends move, such views about the Iranian elections are so commonplace and universally accepted that no-one may have thought much about it. That’s quite possible.

If so, I would like to correct their complacent certainty.

It’s one thing to swallow western mainstream propaganda without exercising one’s own critical faculties. It’s another to regurgitate it, publicly, whilst pretending to be doing something else.

The final cheek is to ask for public subscription to support this agenda. Yuk.

Why doenn’t Get Up ask for a top up from Soros if they’re running low on cash?