State Interference – Report Thy Neighbour: ASA bans Anti-Terrorist Hotline advert
Unfortunately, yes, this is about the UK – where state’s advertising regulator has to reign in the police…
When the Metropolitan Police aired this bizzarely 1984-ish piece of propaganda recently, complaints forced the ASA to step in and prevent the lunacy.
ASA: A radio ad for the Anti-Terrorist Hotline stated “The following message is brought to you by Talk Sport and the Anti-Terrorist Hotline. The man at the end of the street doesn’t talk to his neighbours much, because he likes to keep himself to himself. He pays with cash because he doesn’t have a bank card, and he keeps his curtains closed because his house is on a bus route. This may mean nothing, but together it could all add up to you having suspicions. We all have a role to play in combating terrorism. If you see anything suspicious, call the confidential, Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 XXXXXX. If you suspect it, report it”.
But this was the ASA. And whilst they had to adjudicate on the suitability of the advert, obviously they weren’t interested in preventing the state from trampling all over our long tradition of civil liberties enshrined in centuries of common law. Don’t be ridiculous. Their main concern was that someone might be offended.
However, we considered that the ad could also describe the behaviour of a number of law-abiding people within a community and we considered that some listeners, who might identify with the behaviours referred to in the ad, could find the implication that their behaviour was suspicious, offensive. We also considered that some listeners might be offended by the suggestion that they report members of their community for acting in the way described. We therefore concluded that the ad could cause serious offence.
No kidding. In its defence, the Metropolitan Police did say that the purpose of the campaign was not to raise fear or paranoia. Whoops. They were merely trying to encourage you spy on your neighbours – particularly the suspicious ones. You know, the creepy ones who like a bit of privacy or shy away from the noisy bus stops outside their houses or worse still, those sneaky buggers who’ve stopped using credit cards… after being defrauded three times in the last year!
