SYDNEY - The Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA] has found that the Australian television broadcaster Special Broadcasting Services violated broadcast rules when the company aired a British documentary called Obscene Machines in April 2007.
The documentary focused on technology and how it can be used in sexual therapy. ACMA claimed two segments violated broadcast rules and were not suitable for airing under the so-called MA15+ category which is intedend for mature viewers over the age of 15.
One offending segment featured close shots of a naked woman apparently being penetrated by a mechanized dildo while the other segment profiled an elderly man's use of a life-like sex doll modeled after his 18-year-old ex-wife.
ACMA rejected SBS's argument that a large portion of the program dealt with the sexual activities of the elderly and disabled and was informational.
The agency said in its report that "ACMA considers that the treatment of the subject matter in Obscene Machines is adult in nature and is therefore unsuitable for ordinary 15-year-old audience members."
The report went on to say that "…one segment in particular contained depictions of sexual activity with a level of detail and degree of explicitness that exceeded the MA15+ requirement that sexual activity be implied." The report didn't make clear which segment that was.
