A complaint was received that YFM, a radio station under the BCCSA’s jurisdiction, broadcast a song with an obscene word in it and that the song was, accordingly, harmful to children. The BCCSA Tribunal held that the respondent should be afforded the benefit of the doubt. A broadcaster should, however, steer a course clear of language which may possibly amount to obscenity. The word complained about is a homonym, different in meaning though so close in sound to a word that is an obscenity, that it would be wise for the broadcaster to bear this in mind when a re-broadcast takes place. Had this been a defamation case, the Tribunal may have come to a different conclusion in view of the fact that the word complained about might easily have been mistaken for a similar-sounding word which has a different, obscene meaning. The Tribunal did not, however, express a final opinion on this aspect, since it may in future have to deal with a complaint concerning the same song, based on defamation or impairment of dignity.
The Complaint was not upheld. It was left open as to whether the material did or did not amount to defamation or an impairment of dignity.