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NZ MPs Outlaw Satire of Parliament

Posted by kdawson on from the head-and-shoulders-only dept.

mernil writes "New Zealand's Parliament has voted itself far-reaching powers to control satire and ridicule of MPs in Parliament, attracting a storm of media and academic criticism. The new standing orders, voted in last month, concern the use of images of Parliamentary debates, and make it a contempt of Parliament for broadcasters or anyone else to use footage of the chamber for 'satire, ridicule or denigration.' The new rules are actually more liberal than the previous ones, but the threat of felony contempt is new."

4 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. Huh? by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ``make it a contempt of Parliament for broadcasters or anyone else to use footage of the chamber for 'satire, ridicule or denigration.''

    Huh? I thought the whole point of Parliament was to be ridiculed and denigrated?

    --
    Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
  2. a sign of weakening democracy by petes_PoV · · Score: 5, Insightful
    By coincidence, there was a programme on TV yesterday about the origins of democracy (in Athens, 400BC). One point that came across strongly was that when democracy is strong, states are willing to put up with more criticism.

    As democracy weakens, states clamp down on their critics and introduce more extreme punishments for transgressors.

    This sounds like a good example of this kind of action - sadly it seems to be getting more common across the world, not just in NZ.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
  3. Re:Free Speech Vs. NZ? by timmarhy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    laws are never made to be ignored nor unenforcable. they will pull this one out when it suits them mark my words.

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    If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
  4. Re:Old News by mobby_6kl · · Score: 4, Insightful

    > Satirisation and ridicule are useless and unconstructive. Valid criticism in any democratic state should not be done with insult to the human dignity.

    Hey, napkin-arse, guess what? You're so wrong with your statement, it almost overflows into the "Correct statements" category! Were you by chance on a re-education trip to Russia, China, or North Korea recently? That would certainly explain you idiotic attitude to the whole "freedom of expression" thingie, the whole concept of which has apparently has been erased from your memory in the Paycheck/Spotless Mind style.

    Even if satire is useless, which it is not, people in a free society are expected to be free to satirize as much as they want, even if some dumbasses in the parliament (or on /.) think it's mean to them.

    > Insulting people is not equal to criticism.

    No, but a lot fun can be had when both are done at the same time, and there ain't a goddamn thing you can do about it!