Public Broadcaster’s Legal Manoeuvre Delays Lawsuit Over Inaccurate Reporting

A last-ditch move to delay a lawsuit accusing the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) of inaccurate reporting, and fomenting hatred against a group of dissidents, succeeded earlier this week. Australia’s taxpayer-funded national broadcaster faced complaints from adherents of the persecuted spiritual practice, Falun Gong, many of whom continue to be subjected to human rights abuses by China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The ABC was accused of inaccurate and biased reporting on Falun Gong via its programming, which is alleged to have stirred up “undeserved hatred and hostility” in the public towards adherents of the practice in Australia. Adherents are pushing for the removal of the ABC’s programs and say the public broadcaster breached Section 8 of Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001, where a person must not engage in conduct that incites hatred, serious contempt, or revulsion of a class of persons....