065/06
3 July 2006
‘Big Brother’
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is continuing its assessment of the alleged incident which took place on the set of the “Big Brother” television program on 1 July 2006, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan said today.
“I have not yet received a written response from ACMA, however I expect that a report will be provided in the next 24 hours,” Senator Coonan said.
“The incident which allegedly occurred on the set of the ‘Big Brother’ program was both disturbing and offensive and many in the community are rightly concerned by the prospect of footage of this incident being broadcast.
“I have been in discussions with ACMA officers and I can confirm that the incident in question was not broadcast on free-to-air television.
“In addition, I have sought and obtained an undertaking from Channel 10 that they will not broadcast or promote this incident. However, prior to this undertaking, footage of the incident had already been streamed on the Internet to a limited audience via a paid service which is restricted to subscribers over the age of 18.
“ACMA will assess whether the streaming of this footage over the Internet breached the requirements of the Online Content Scheme, which restricts the type of material that can be hosted on Australian internet services.
“The Online Content Scheme, introduced in 2000, bans offensive material from being hosted on Australian web servers and requires Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to limit access to certain material to adults.
“The Scheme introduced industry codes dealing with prohibited content on the Internet. Compliance with the code is enforced by ACMA and ISPs can be fined up to $27,500 per day for breaching the code.
“The National Classification Code (the Code) is used to define prohibited material for the purposes of the Online Content Scheme. The Code is formally agreed between Commonwealth, State and Territory Censorship Ministers at the regular Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) meetings which deal with censorship matters.
“Schedule 5 to the Broadcasting Services Act provides that the relevant test for prohibited online content classification is derived from the Code.
“It was drawn to my attention today that some media outlets have provided access to footage of the alleged incident on their websites.
“I have asked that AMCA also assess this distribution of the material, and I have written to the media outlets in question this afternoon requesting that they immediately remove the material pending ACMA’s findings.”