On 16 February 2016, the ABC science program Catalyst aired ‘Wi-Fried?’, a program about the safety of wireless devices such as mobile phones.
The ABC’s independent Audience & Consumer Affairs (A&CA) unit investigated complaints about the program and found that it breached the ABC’s impartiality standards by unduly favouring a so called “unorthodox” perspective that wireless devices and Wi-Fi pose significant health risks.
The full Audience and Consumer Affairs Investigation report can be found here http://about.abc.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FINAL-REPORT-Catalyst-WiFried-Investigation.pdf
Following the outcome of this report, the ABC has retracted the program and removed it from its website. Dr Maryanne Demasi, the presenter, has been suspended.
Is this yet further evidence of industry muscle swaying scientific debate? Why is the independence of the ABC seemingly in the thrall of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA)?
To read more about this spurious censorship, or to submit a comment, please go to:
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4494933.htm
If you missed out on seeing ‘Wi-Fried?’, and want to make up your own mind about its content, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNnxIj0uAOs
But be quick …before the ABC thought police close the site down!
Stop Smart Meters Australia 
The retraction is outrageous. Developed countries are issuing guidelines and warnings about usage. So why backdown? Business pressure? http://ehtrust.org/key-issues/cell-phoneswireless/wifi-in-schools/ AND http://nebula.wsimg.com/5ead504d6d86b3f441e98cf077f11088?AccessKeyId=045114F8E0676B9465FB&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
Who decided to make the journalist the scapegoat. The management are the billygoats in this decision.
We should be concerned with ANY possible risks. We should listen to what was being said. And then we can listen to other reports. Let’s stop invested interests and convenience and be very cautious. Let’s not repeat history like smoking meant to have been safe too. Dr Charlie Teo is cautious, then I am going to be cautious too. So wrong to remove the episode. We are not children.
You can’t hide the truth forever, eventually everything will come out. I saw an ad the other day about a mobile phone shielding device, i am surprised this ad has not been removed or even allowed to be shown.
I hope ABC management carefully considers Dr Magda Havas’s open letter regarding the removal of ‘Wi-Fried?’. To view the letter, go to http://www.magdahavas.com/open-letter-re-abc-catalyst-wi-fried-documentary-australia/
To retract the program tells me that some damage has been inflicted. This will make more people aware now as usually is something is banned people are more likely to want to find out why. The program must of hurt and so as i see it its not all bad.
The more that the wireless communications industry behaves in this fashion the more they are tightening the noose around their own necks and you know what will happen eventually. It’s inevitable.
well said, I agree.
The ‘government’ controls the ABC. It is meant to belong to us. This is evidence of a dictatorship in action. I know who introduced smartmeters into our country, so when I say ‘government’, I mean either party.
“Dr Maryanne Demasi, the presenter has been suspended”
Start up a petition to get her re-instated, and I will be the first to sign
Of course they have retracted the program, after all ABC is the Federal Maffia network. Lets not forget they are the same culprits that had the Carbon Calculator years ago on ABC encouraging kids to commit suicide by the time they turn 12 years old all because they would be exceeding their allowable limit of breathing air which turns to Carbon Dioxide. But the fact is Carbon Dioxide is good of which they demonise it as being bad. They are doing the same with WiFi , Phone Towers & Death Meters in opposite saying there is no problems at all with them when in truth they are super deadly. In fact Phone Towers can be turned up so high they can literally fry us to death to be used as a WMD. Theres a politician called Ron Johnson who’s exposing the truth to all this go watch his vids on Youtube because we have been sold out big time by the government.
Interference in the independence of the journalists. The point of view was plain and quite acceptable.