The British Dubbing Loophole of 1988
https://nowiknow.com/the-british-dubbing-loophole-of-1988/
Abridged version below.
On August 20, 1988, members of the IRA bombed a bus carrying British soldiers near the town of Ballygawley. In response, the British government voted to censor Irish republican leaders who wanted to appear on British-run TV and radio. On October 19, Home Secretary Douglas Hurd exercised authority under the broadcast media laws of the time, “prohibiting the broadcast of direct statements by representatives or supporters of eleven Irish political and military organizations.” There was an exception carved out for the period right before elections, but outside of that period, you’d never hear their voices over the airways.
Journalists throughout the nation objected to this, calling it censorship, but to no avail. Even Gerry Adams, then the Member of Parliament from Belfast West in Northern Ireland, couldn’t speak on TV or radio — as the head of Irish nationalist party Sinn Féin at the time, he was caught by the censorship law.
But just because he couldn’t speak on TV or radio didn’t mean he couldn’t appear on TV. The law prohibited direct statements — not indirect ones. Radio stations could have newscasters read the statements without issue. And when it came to TV, the press got creative. Here’s how the Guardian summarized the solution:
The voices of the sanctioned speakers were barred, but the words they spoke were not, resulting in the unique workaround for which the ban is now chiefly remembered: six years in which anyone claiming to speak for Sinn Féin would have their voices dubbed by actors. First tested in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary in which Stephen Rea voiced Gerry Adams, the process was soon applied across the board, leading to the ubiquitous process of dozens of elected representatives and spokespeople having their words dubbed from English to English on all broadcast platforms.
The political will to close the loophole was lacking, and the voiceover trick lasted for as long as the ban stayed in effect. The government ultimately ended the broadcast restrictions on September 16, 1994, a few weeks after the IRA agreed to a ceasefire.
Saved!rockshard PhDEditing … I cant believe the IRA really exists. Bombing a bus sounds like some jihadist shit, but they're irish. o.o
Saved!NodleyEditing … The people of Northern Ireland voted to remain part of Britain back in the 70s, they could have gone back to Ireland if they wanted to, and it was a 99% vote to remain. We never stopped them leaving, we just stood up for them and gave them what they wanted. So I guess it was some serious terrorist shit.