Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Will the BSA have to back down on this?

Listen, I don't know how much most people will care about the drama that's unfolding with the BSA. Obviously here in radio world, we do, because these people are our watchdog.

But if you enjoy watching people try something on and then be forced to retreat, you might enjoy this one.

So what's kicked this off is that the BSA apparently decided, in secret, that they would give themselves permission to tidy up not just New Zealand's TV and radio, but now also the entire internet. And the first outfit that they've come after is The Platform.

Now my personal dealings with the BSA have led me to believe that the people drawn to sitting on bodies like the BSA are not always the country's deepest thinkers, and this case only reinforces that - because if you thought about this for any more than 10 minutes, you would realize the BSA should just leave the internet alone.

The BSA can't police the entire internet, it's too big. What, are they seriously proposing to send Joe Rogan a fine for $3000 NZD if someone in New Zealand complains about something he said?

They can't even realistically police the part of the internet that New Zealand uses, it's too big.

There's too many podcasts, too many videos, audio files, live streams, you name it, which means they're gonna have to pick and choose what they police and crack down on on the internet, which will inevitably lead to them being accused of bias and favouritism.

Which is exactly what has happened here, because the first lot they've come after is The Platform, which if you know the story, was set up on the internet precisely to avoid the BSA and its rules.

So - what a surprise that it's the first one the BSA comes after. What a surprise that they're copping a huge amount of flak and resistance from all over the show, including Winston and David Seymour.

It seems to me there is a way out of this for the BSA - they'll have to back down.

Because this is just an interim decision, and I think they might have to abandon it - and their plans for internet domination may have to also be abandoned.

And then they will have to eat some humble pie, which surely would have been obvious to them if they had only thought about it, like the rest of us, for about, I don't know, 10 minutes.

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