The call for a boycott against TopTV as well as advertisers and sponsors associated with the pay TV operator comes after TopTV's plans to start three hardcore pornography TV channels as a separate porn package from 2012.
TopTV signed an agreement with Playboy for 3 channels with an R18 rating that will become available as a separate stand-alone package at R199 per month if the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) approves TopTV's ''application for authorisation of channels''.
In a statement from the Family Policy Institute, the FPI says it ''supports the view that the broadcasting of hardcore pornography on television degrades and objectifies women and exposes children of harmful content''.
The FPI, together with a growing number of Christian church groups in South Africa are now supporting a boycott of TopTV. The pressure group is asking TopTV subscribers to cancel their TopTV subscriptions and to support the boycott ''by not paying their subscription fees and cancelling their contracts with the pay channel.''
The FPI says the plan is to also target all advertisers as well as sponsors who appear and advertise on TopTV. So far six Christian organisations have affiliated themselves with the TopTV boycott and the list is growing, ranging from the Methodist Church of South Africa to the vast Evangelical Alliance of South Africa.
Before TopTV launched in May 2010 - 19 months ago - TopTV CEO Vino Govender promised that TopTV will not carry pornographic video channels. ''We are running our business with strong Christian ethical codes and we are not planning to introduce a porn channel. Besides, we don't want to poison the minds of millions of SA children out there,'' said Vino Govender.
Last week when TopTV's porn plans broke, TopTV said ''stagnating to past statements will not serve changed needs from our clients or assist our growth''. TopTV says ''whilst TopTV is not seeking to distance itself from its positioning as a family values orientated service provider, we view the additional channels within that context as well. As a business, we need to be alive to the desires of our existing and future client base.''
TopTV didn't have an immediate response to the call for a boycott of TopTV by the Family Policy Institute, but told TV with Thinus that the pay TV operator is busy working on a response.
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