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Amidst a fog of selective outrage re #SABC TV licence issue, fueled by clickbait media that would be happy to see SABC closed down & sold off to private sector, the question of how to legitimately fund #PublicBroadcasting in a constitutional democracy has been ignored. A thread
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#SABC is not the only public broadcaster in the world using a licence fee mechanism to part-fund public mandate programming. But the statute that governs this - the Broadcasting Act - is 21 years old & needs review. Hence its 1 of the issues posed in govt& #39;s draft White Paper. /2
The current law is based on now archaic notion of owning a "TV set" in a world where #SABC audio & AV content is now broadcast & streamed on multiple platforms, incl. analogue FM & TV, DTT, DTH, mobile apps, YouTube, Twitter, FB & on a sports portal http://sabcsportonline.co.za"> http://sabcsportonline.co.za /3
Adding to these platforms, next yr #SABC plans to launch a streaming app, that will incl. all SABC catch-up, linear audio & AV content. IMO a future #PublicBroadcasting levy shoudnt be based on & #39;how& #39; or & #39;whether& #39; you consume SABC, but on NB of public broadcasting for democracy /4
Defining a #PublicBroadcasting levy & who should collect it is still up for debate. But those who seek to challenge it legally in SA should have regard to 2018 decision of Germany& #39;s highest court which decided that the levy on all households in Germany was constitutional /5
The German court found fee justifiable, noting broad programming options across platforms. Fee was levied "specifically for financing of public service programing that& #39;s FUNDAMENTAL TO DEMOCRACY" adding it wasn& #39;t relevant whether a person made use of #PublicBroadcasting or not /6
Lastly, the German Court& #39;s decision on constitutionality of household levy for public broadcasting was affirmed by @EUCourtPress. Research noted that 99% of people live in a household that has at least 1 device capable of receiving public TV or radio. The same is true in SA. /end
