Andrew Bolt’s column mocking Greta Thunberg breached standards, press watchdog finds

Andrew Bolt’s mocking column about Greta Thunberg, which referred to the young climate campaigner as “deeply disturbed” and “freakishly influential”, breached standards and was likely to cause substantial distress, offence and prejudice, the press watchdog has found.

The Australian Press Council ruled that the language in Bolt’s August 2019 article breached standards because it attempted to “diminish the credibility of Ms Thunberg’s opinions on the basis of her disabilities and by pillorying her supporters on the basis of her disabilities”.

The council said there was no public interest in “undermining the credibility of a person, her opinions or her supporters on the basis of her disabilities in circumstances where many people without disabilities share and express similar opinions”.

But the influential News Corp columnist immediately doubled down and repeated the slurs, referring to the 17-year-old as a “freakishly influential goddess of global warming” and a “holy fool”, and accused the press council of sabotaging debate.

“Thunberg’s disorders help to explain her near-mystical air of certainty, but also why she’s a false prophet,” Bolt wrote in Thursday’s Herald Sun, where the adjudication was published.

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“It is a symptom of autism and forms of Asperger’s to not ‘really care about social codes’ – or not fully understand them. That often means not tolerating compromises with other people or their views.”

Asked to comment on Bolt’s rejection of the ruling, the Press Council said in a statement:

“The objects of the Press Council are to promote freedom of speech through responsible and independent media and adherence to high journalistic and editorial standards. Consistent with that object, Press Council member publications are at liberty to comment on the Press Council’s adjudications.”

Last year autism advocates said they were “absolutely disgusted” by the attack on the then-16-year-old, which sought to “equate her autism to having a range of mental disorders”.

Bolt’s character assassination, which was published in Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids and online, repeatedly referred to Thunberg as “strange” and as having “Asperger’s syndrome, high-functioning autism and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder”.

“I have never seen a girl so young and with so many mental disorders treated by so many adults as a guru,” Bolt wrote last year.

Thunberg responded to him on Twitter, calling out the “hate and conspiracy campaigns” run by climate deniers like Bolt.

However, the newspaper was cleared of publishing significantly inaccurate factual material.

The Herald Sun successfully argued it was fair and reasonable for Bolt to describe Thunberg as “deeply disturbed”, “strange” and “[having] so many mental disorders”, “as the writer’s opinion is based on accurate factual material publicised by both Greta Thunberg and her mother”.

“The council accepts that Greta Thunberg’s mental disorders are a matter of public record and have been relayed with reasonable accuracy in the article,” the council said. “As such, the council does not consider that the writer’s expression of opinion is based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts and concludes that general principle 3 was not breached.”

The chief executive of Autism Awareness Australia, Nicole Rogerson, said Bolt’s views were ignorant and cruel.

“You can imagine how terrible it would feel if you’re a young person with autism, who cares about social issues, not just environmental issues, you care, and you want to have a contribution, you want to have a say?” Rogerson said last year.

“And essentially, Andrew Bolt has decided that because of your autism, you shouldn’t be taken seriously. I mean, where did you draw the line?”