Dated: 9 April 2008
StarHub Cable Vision (SCV) has been fined by the Media Development Authority (MDA) for showing a commercial of a song that depicted lesbian kissing scenes.
The commercial which was to promote a song by the singer, 阎韦伶(Olivia), was aired on MTV Mandarin Channel on 26 and 28 November 2007. Within the commercial, romanticised scenes of two girls kissing were shown and it portrayed the relationship as acceptable. This is in breach of the TV advertising guidelines, which disallows advertisements that condone homosexuality.
MDA also consulted the Advisory Committee for Chinese Programmes and the Committee concurred that the commercial had promoted lesbianism as acceptable and romantic, especially when shown together with the lyrics featured.
Taking into account the severity of the breach and that the commercial was aired on a youth-oriented TV channel, as well as SCV's explanation on the matter, MDA found that a financial penalty was warranted and issued SCV a fine of $10,000.
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