Free Speech & Cancel Culture

A poster for Rated People , seen in September 2022, featured text stating, Building Work. It's a man's game. Bit like football was. Alongside was an image of a hand holding a drill. Beneath that, smaller text stated, If you've got the skills, we've got the jobs.

Eleven complainants, who believed the ad perpetuated harmful gender stereotypes by suggesting employment in the building industry was exclusive to men, challenged whether it breached the Code.

Rated People Ltd said the ad was one of several ads that were part of a campaign to encourage diversity into the trades profession. They said the intention of the ad itself was to highlight that just as football had traditionally been seen as a man's game, the trades profession continued to be seen in that way. They said the aim of the campaign as a whole was intentionally designed to challenge that stereotype and change that mindset through their message of encouraging women into the trades, with the message that it was skills that were important, rather than gender.

They said that whilst the ad itself had an element of tongue-in-cheek humour, it was intended to recognise the success of the England Women's football team at the recent 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship. They said they used that to demonstrate that women could have success in a previously male dominated industry, and to illustrate that the same could also be true in the trades.

ASA Assessment: Compaints upheld

The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not include gender stereotypes that were likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence. It also stated that particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of gender.

We recognised that the ad was part of a wider campaign made up of a number of ads, with the aim of improving diversity in the trades industry and challenging the associated stereotypical bias. However, because the ad was displayed in isolation, we assessed it on its merits alone.

We understood that there was a negative long-established stereotype that building work was a male profession. We considered that consumers were likely to understand the phrase Building work. It's a man's game to mean that building work was a profession that was carried out by men, and was not appropriate for women. The phrase was immediately followed by text stating, Bit like football was, which we acknowledged was intended to imply that, in football, women had successfully challenged a similar stereotype, as exemplified by the success of the recent Women's European Championship 203 and that the stereotype around building work was being challenged in a similar way. We acknowledged that some consumers were likely to interpret the ad that way.

However, we considered that the claims in the ad were ambiguous, and that other consumers were likely to interpret the ad as presenting changing attitudes to football in a negative light, mourning the fact that football might no longer be considered a man's game, and presenting building work as one area where women were still excluded, and should continue to be. We considered that the ad reinforced harmful gender stereotypes that both football and the trade industry should be for men only.

For these reasons, we concluded that the ad included a gender stereotype that was likely to cause harm and serious offence, and breached the Code.

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Rated People Ltd to ensure they did not present gender stereotypes in a way that was likely to cause harm and serious offence.

New Twitter owner Elon Musk has said President Donald Trump's account has been reinstated after running a poll in which users backed the decision.

The people have spoken, Musk tweeted, after the results of a poll showed Twitter users' narrow support for Trump to be reinstated.

Over 15 million users participated in the poll, with 52% voting in favor of bringing Trump back to the platform.

While the account is now active, it's not known if President Trump will return to the platform, as he has previously said: I don't see any reason for it, and has since launched his own social media platform, Truth Social.

An episode of the popular kids' show Bluey is not, and probably never will be shown on Disney+ or Disney Junior.

The Bluey Season 2 episode Dad Baby , is as of this writing, banned from the US, and it doesn't look like that will change any time soon.

Airing on March 29, 2020, on CBeebies in the UK and Australia, Dad Baby, is the 13th episode of Bluey Season 2. In it, the dad, Bandit, pretends to give birth to Bingo, hence the title Dad Baby. Like all of Bluey, this episode is a whimsical take on explaining something in the grownup world, to children.

There are a variety of theories as to why this episode was maybe not allowed on Disney channels and streamers in the US. But there has been no statement from Disney.

The assumption most pundits and fans have made is simple: Disney has deemed it inappropriate for children. Most fans have accused Disney of strange censorship, which is either sexist, prudish, or both.

A post on the Facebook page for Lee Andrews Male Grooming, seen on 21 June 2022, featured a cropped image of the lower half of a woman wearing a string bikini, lying on a beach. Pubic hair was seen to protrude from the bikini. Above the image, text stated, When spring comes and your [sic] not ready.

A complainant, who believed the image objectified women, challenged whether the ad was offensive and harmful.

Lee Andrews Male Grooming confirmed over the telephone that they believed the complaint was unfounded and did not objectify women.

ASA Assessment: Complaint upheld

The ASA noted that Lee Andrews Male Grooming provided grooming services and that, although their name referred to male grooming, they also provided waxing services for women, including bikini line waxing. We therefore acknowledged that the image was not entirely irrelevant to the service they offered.

However, we noted that the image was cropped from the waist down, removing the woman's head and making her groin and pubic hair the dominant focus of the image. We considered that focus used the woman's body to draw attention to the ad, and, in combination with the text in the ad, did so in a way that presented pubic hair as undesirable and the woman in the image as a subject of mockery. We considered that the image was likely to be seen as objectifying and demeaning women.

For these reasons we concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious and widespread offence.

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Lee Andrews Male Grooming to ensure that future ads did not cause serious or widespread offence by objectifying women.

Sony Music Korea has censored a music video to cover up the braided hairstyle of a K-pop girl band member following ludicrous claims of 'cultural appropriation'.

The controversy started last month when Hani, a member of the group EXID, wore braids in a promotional photo for their new single Fire .

Western K-pop 'fans' piled on to social media to criticise Hani's hair, claiming it's a form of racism for any non-black person to braid their hair.

Sony decided to censor the hairstyle by blurring it.

PayPal's clause about taking users' funds for a violation of its rules has long been established. But, as published on September 26th and to be effective on November 3rd, 2022, PayPal will add restrictions to its acceptable use policy that go beyond illegal activities and fraud and into the realm of policing speech.

The updated policy prohibits users from using PayPal for activities that:

Involve the sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials that, in PayPal's sole discretion,

(a) are harmful, obscene, harassing, or objectionable ...

(e) depict, promote, or incite hatred or discrimination of protected groups or of individuals or groups based on protected characteristics (e.g. race, religion, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.) ...

(g) are fraudulent, promote misinformation ... or

(i) are otherwise unfit for publication.