Free TV Australia has called for election TV broadcast blackout laws to be ripped up as they are "outdated" in an era when subscription TV and online video are prevalent.
The blackout, from midnight on Wednesday, is a provision of the Broadcasting Services Act that only applies to commercial TV. It was drafted into law before the introduction of pay TV and widespread internet access in Australia.
Free TV chairman Harold Mitchell says the rules are a "failure of successive governments to keep pace with changes in technology and consumer behaviour".
"The so-called electronic media blackout has become a joke," he adds. "With reports that up to 40% of people are now pre-poll voting, the blackout is more meaningless than ever."
Mitchell says all the blackout laws will achieve is to push political advertising into other channels, such as online news sites and social media.
"We are calling on the new Parliament to get rid of this outdated provision which only serves to put commercial broadcasters at a disadvantage to all other digital media," Mitchell says.
"It is hard to see what public interest is served by maintaining the blackout. Australians should be able to access information about elections on all digital media platforms."
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