MEDIA FREEDOM
Afriforum raises Malema in hate-speak appeal
Verashni Pillay, who was editor of the Huffington Post at the time the blog was published, takes the judgment on appeal
The South African context should be taken into consideration in deciding if a blog written about denying white men the franchise was indeed hate speech, AfriForum argued in an appeal against a press ombudsman finding on Monday. Ombud Johan Retief found against the Huffington Post after a blog that was written under the pseudonym Shelley Garland was found to be hate speech. Monday’s appeal took place before the Press Council’s appeals committee, headed by Judge Bernard Ngoepe. Verashni Pillay, who was editor of the Huffington Post at the time the blog was published, took the judgment on appeal in its entirety, while Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) joined the appeal against the finding of hate speech, as amicus curiae. Pillay, MMA and Sanef argued that it did not amount to hate speech. The appeal dealt with two rights: freedom of expression and the right to equality. Afriforum representative advocate Mark Oppenheimer said the South Af...
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