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Aotearoa’s broadcasting watchdog has announced new guidance on how it plans to consider complaints “relying on transphobic stereotypes”.
In new guidance published on Tuesday, the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) said complaints leaning on transphobic stereotypes are “unlikely to succeed and the BSA may decline to determine them”.
It also said language which seeks to include trans and non-binary people won’t be considered a breach of broadcasting standards.
Trans and non-binary people are considered vulnerable to harm and trans people are entitled to protection from “discrimination and denigration,” the BSA said.
The guidance is based on recent BSA decisions. It is intended to balance the right to freedom of speech with the rights of vulnerable communities to be free from discrimination.
“The right to freedom of expression is not unlimited and our role in this context is to consider where limits may be justified in light of harm potentially caused to already vulnerable communities,” acting chief executive Helen Cruse said in a statement.
“We issue our new guidance in a context where gender identity issues are generating considerable discussion and media coverage.
“It highlights key matters recognised and determined in recent BSA decisions which may assist broadcasters and members of the public considering these issues.”
The BSA set out a three-page document outlining how it will approach complaints concerning gender identity issues.
Among them is a line drawn that relying on transphobic tropes, like “gender identity is a mechanism to exploit women” are “unlikely to find favour with the BSA.”
The BSA may decline to determine the complaint – meaning they may not review the case at all.
“The authority has acknowledged the evidential foundation for such views is ‘strongly disputed’ and reliance on such tropes is ‘capable of embedding long-standing prejudice,’” the guidance said.
It also sets out that broadcasters risk harm to trans and non-binary people by misgendering them – referring to them by the incorrect gender – or deadnaming them – using a name they no longer use.
The BSA states inclusive language is “unlikely to breach broadcasting standards,” particularly if it’s used to report on underrepresented communities.
The BSA offered an example from an article reporting on trans men and non-binary people not getting cervical screenings, and the using the phrase “people with cervixes” was accurate and not a denigration of women.
In March 2021, the BSA said it would stop reviewing complaints about the use of te reo Māori because it is an official language of New Zealand and its use is protected and promoted by law.
