Networks Seven and Ten have rejected the anti-same-sex marriage advertisement campaign from Marriage Alliance.

The Marriage Alliance is upset that their negative message won’t be seen on all networks. The 30-second commercial was launched on Sunday, 2 August, and declares, “It’s time to step back and consider all the issues around same-sex marriage – like how it will affect children, or sex education in schools, or even what rights you could lose.” The scare tactic campaign depicts same-sex marriage as an iceberg. A cruise liner is seen heading towards it, implying some imminent doom that the naturally occurring ice structure will cause.

Sophie York, a spokesperson for Marriage Alliance,  believes that the refusal to air the ad is an issue of free speech.

Channel Nine and Foxtel are airing the ad, although Nine has placed it “in selective timeslots”.

A Foxtel spokesperson said “As a company Foxtel is a strong supporter of marriage equality. We have given our support to Australian Marriage Equality by joining as one of the campaign’s corporate supporters. As a media company we also believe in free speech, therefore we do not believe it is appropriate to refuse any side the opportunity to put forward its views. Naturally, we will be running ads in support of marriage equality when they are launched shortly.”

Australian Marriage Equality has kicked off its advertisement campaign called #WeCanDoThis. The ads feature Australian celebrities and athletes calling for equality and respect.