Former HuffPost SA editor to appeal ombud ruling
31 July 2017
Cape Town – Former Huffington Post South Africa editor Verashni Pillay will on Monday argue for leave to appeal a Press Ombudsman ruling that a blog published on the website constituted hate speech.
Pillay will present her argument to the Press Appeals Panel of South Africa, chaired by Judge Bernard Ngoepe.
Civil body AfriForum has been listed as a respondent. The group was one of the original complainants to the ombudsman following the publication of the blog.
Pillay resigned as editor of HuffPost SA following the ombudsman's findings on April 22 that a blog titled "Could it be time to deny white men the franchise?" was "malicious" and "discriminatory".
Press Ombudsman Johan Retief said the publication of the blog had violated numerous sections of the Press Code, and had "contributed to the erosion of public trust in the media".
Pillay is appealing the ombud's ruling that its publication and a follow-up editorial titled "This blog on white men is going viral. Here’s our response" breached several clauses in the 2016 Code of Ethics and Conduct for SA Print and Online Media.
The hearing is scheduled from 11:00 to 15:00.
The panel will determine, among other things, whether the blog and the editorial contained "discriminatory or denigratory references to people’s race and gender", or "advocated hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm".
