South African Groups Announce TopTV Boycott Over Porn

SOUTH AFRICA—As TopTV escalates its campaign for government permission to broadcast adult fare during the nighttime and early evening hours, opposition from religious and social conservative groups is also escalating with the announcement of a planned boycott of the broadcaster. “[The] Family Policy Institute (FPI), in partnership with several major Christian denominations in South Africa, has launched a nationwide boycott of TopTV, its advertisers, and sponsors,” City Press reported Family Policy Institute director Errol Naidoo as saying in a statement issued Monday. “The Christian church is deeply concerned that the introduction of three pornographic channels in South Africa will exacerbate the current crisis of rape and violence against vulnerable women and children,” Naidoo added. TopTV was originally planning to broadcast three 24-hour adult channels to South African viewers, but in the face of growing opposition scaled its ambitions back, and is now seeking to broadcast Playboy, Desire, and Private Spice between 8pm and 5am. But even that is too much for the country’s social conservatives, who consistently mention access by minors as justification for censorship of the content. “Introducing three porn channels in SA will significantly increase the risk of children being exposed to hard-core sexually explicit images,” said Naidoo. But he also pulled out the ubiquitous “demeaning to women” canard as well, saying, “Pornography demeans and degrades women and reinforces the stereotype that women are mere sex objects.” Of course, one could likewise argue that prohibiting such channels reinforces the religious stereotype that women are disinterested in also expressing their sexuality, but that’s another article. In addition to Christian churches, City Press reports that “the Apostolic Faith Mission of SA, Assemblies of God of SA, the Baptist Union of SA, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference, and Church of England in SA” have also joined the boycott, in addition to other denominations, including The Dutch Reformed Church, the Full Gospel Church of SA, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa, and the Association of Vineyard Churches in SA.