[LINK] Electioneering

Stilgherrian stil at stilgherrian.com
Mon Oct 15 15:09:11 AEST 2007


On 15/10/07 2:32 PM, "Howard Lowndes" <lannet at lannet.com.au> wrote:
>> More seriously, there's a very interesting point here, which I've previously
>> blogged about http://stilgherrian.com/politics/bennelong_time/ and which is
>> well-illustrated by the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_zulGddP6o
>> ... in that it doesn't have a ³written and authorised by² blurb at the end.
>> Does that matter? Or is this really just ³a citizen expressing an opinion²,
>> as he might over a pint at the local pub?
> 
> We shall see when the AEC take action - they will be like hawks on this one.

I reckon that we (as in "Australia") will have to make an interesting
decision here.

If I send an email to a friend expressing a political view, that's a
personal communication. And is (and IMO should be) free from anyone
requiring me to label it.

If I send an email to 100,000 people, then that presumably is a political
advertising campaign, and I have to add those AEC-required words at the end.

Where is the dividing line? The same email to 2 people? 5? 10? 100?

Actually, I shouldn't have said "email" because those folks whose brains
implode at the mere mention of anything which might possibly be construed as
spam will cause a certain frothing and the point will be missed.

Let's say, instead, that I make a fuonny video and show it to people. Their
choice to view it. Same question. At what point does it become something I
need to brand as "a political advertisement" as opposed to "expressing my
personal opinion"?

Stil


-- 
Stilgherrian http://stilgherrian.com/
Internet, IT and Media Consulting, Sydney, Australia
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