Tim Blair

Blair's Law

Some bloggers use the term "Blair's Law" to describe a theoretical alliance or shared empathy between far right groups, far left groups and extremist Islamists. In 2002, Blair described this supposed alliance as an "ongoing process by which the world's multiple idiocies are becoming one giant, useless force".^[14] The phrase has been adopted and embraced by several conservative and libertarian bloggers.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Allegations of Transgender Vilification

In January 2017, Blair published a blog article on the website of the Daily Telegraph reporting on a transgender woman accused of a violent axe attack in a Sydney suburb.^[19] Although unrelated to the incident, Blair made repeated ridiculing references to the attacker's transgender status and history of sex reassignment surgery, calling her a "tranny" who "had chopped herself".

The following week, SBS published an article expressing concern about how journalists "appear to enjoy treating transgender people as the punchline to a joke," singling out Blair's comments.^[20]

In September 2018, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal considered whether the article constituted unlawful vilification through its gratuitous references to, and ridicule of the woman's transgender status.^[21] The Tribunal found that the Blair's article was published with "apparent disregard for the injurious effect it might have on transgender people." The Tribunal also said that, "it is evident that Mr Blair was seeking to make fun of Ms Amati and probably transgender people more generally," and that Blair's "attempt at humour was in poor taste and completely devoid of empathy or sensitivity."

Continuing, the Tribunal also said that the article was "...but one of a number of articles carried by the Australian media which contribute to the perpetration and perpetuation of demeaning negative stereotypes and a lack of acceptance of transgender people within the community.". The Tribunal ultimately concluded that, whilst "close to the line", the article did not reach the threshold for vilification.^[22]

Lawyer Michael Bradley wrote an analysis of the case for political news website Crikey, arguing that "free speech such as Blair’s puerile blog post" should not be unlawful, but instead should "be called out for what it is, and his employer should have sufficient social responsibility to cease publishing his recklessly hurtful attempts at wit — because he did, and does, harm."^[23]

As of September 2018, the article has been removed from the website of the Daily Telegraph and replaced with a notice stating "This Article is No Longer Available."^[24] Neither Blair nor the publisher offered an apology.

The Australian Press Council has not yet formed any conclusions about whether the article complied with its Statement of General Principles

Criticism of Failure to Censor Racist Comments

In 2007, Media Watch, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV program which Blair has often criticised, stated that The Daily Telegraph, other newspapers and Blair failed to censor racist comments on their websites.^[25] Blair and the Telegraph reported that Media Watch had themselves failed to censor antisemitic comments at their own website,^[26][27] and that their story relied on "unacknowledged assistance"^[28] from "Muslim Village, [a website which] is guilty itself of publishing offensive comments".^[29] The ABC later launched an internal inquiry into Media Watch's dealings with Muslim Village.^[30]

In March 2009, Pure Poison, a blog hosted by online media site Crikey, alleged that Blair "comments under a pseudonym on his blog and various other blogs" and was "unprofessional in his conduct as a journalist".^[31] Both Pure Poison and Crikey issued a partial retraction a few days later. In April 2010, Pure Poison and Crikey fully retracted their report and apologised,^[31] after Blair commenced legal action.^[32] Blair subsequently accepted a confidential settlement.^[33]

In August 2010, Crikey amended an online article, written by Guy Rundle, that "misrepresented the views of Tim Blair and Andrew Bolt", admitting that "references to them were offensive and indefensible."^[34]

On 17 June 2014 Tim Blair published a blog post titled 'Crown Our Crazy Queen', which asked his readers to vote for 'Who is Australia’s craziest left-wing frightbat?', out of a choice of various Australian feminist columnists, writers and activists. The 'winner' was Vanessa Badham, a columnist for The Guardian. ^[35] This episode triggered a storm of controversy, including responses from the 'frightbats' Blair had nominated. ^{[36] [37] [38] [39]} Blair responded to the controversy by stating that "When you describe hysterical crazy people as crazy and hysterical, it creates hysterical craziness." ^[40] He has since made the "frightbat poll" an annual event.^[41]