14/05/2023
Media web bloggers have noted that a nominally "Christian" radio station which transmits hate filled, Christian fundamentalist programming on Sundays, has been knocked off the air on shortwave. Since 1988, Christian nationalist, anti-gay and extreme anti-democratic programming from fundamentalist preachers based in the United States has been transmitted on shortwave by the installation called "Reflections Europe" and broadcast from a site believed by many to be located in County Donegal. Technically speaking, the installation is illegal, but the Irish Authorities frequently turn a blind eye to unlicensed broadcasting. The broadcasts ceased in March, although they continue on the web, and the operator of the radio station has pledged to come back on the air in due course. The absence of the shortwave broadcasts was welcomed by many LGBTQIA and secular observers of the radio spectrum. In addition, the frequencies freed up by the station's off air time have been taken over by music pirate stations from across Europe, in a satisfying twist to the story.
Hate groups access to shortwave broadcasting is very much an issue in the United States, where far right broadcasting is permitted by Federal Law. The anti-hate Southern Poverty Law Center published an article many years ago on the use of shortwave broadcasting by extremists to propagate hatred round the globe. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2001/america...
