We dont agree with omitting some opinions because we might not necessarily agree, says company before issuing legal threat to this website. A high-profile Irish prize competition company which runs online competitions seen by some politicians as unregulated or loosely regulated gambling has been accused of posting a rage-bait video against people who cycle to drum up business via its social media channels. The company has denied this and said their video included a mix of views.Last month, the Irish Independent reported that the growing prevalence of these competition companies has prompted Fianna Fil TD Paul McAuliffe to call on the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland to open an investigation into the sector and assess how well it will be covered under new gambling legislation.This week, one of the most high-profile companies, Waterford-based PLEO Media, operating as Blaa Giveaways, posted a clickbait video in which it asks people their views on having cyclists pay a road tax. The responses shown in the video were mixed but included one person interviewed saying, I hate them, I hate them and another referring to Lycra worn by racing cyclists as like a gimp suit.Blaa Giveaways, in a statement to IrishCycle.com (see the full statement below), said: We dont agree with omitting some opinions because we might not necessarily agree with them or indeed because others dont, before issuing a thinly veiled legal threat. Responding to the video on the companys Instagram page, one commenter said: Sad to see Blaa giveaways promoting this kind of hate on our roads, I thought you could have done better!Blaa responded: We dont promote anything, we sometimes ask topical questions we hear on the radio to get peoples thoughts and post all responses as we hear them. Responding to Blaas comment, another member of the public was having none of that kind of response and said: Youve chosen to leave this video up even after several people have pointed out that road tax does not exist. Would you post a video of someone saying they hate any other group of people? You know exactly what you are doing and its dangerous. These negative opinions, not based on the law or on how taxation works, which you have actively chosen to share, translate into aggression on the roads.Another commenter said: Disgusting content promoting hatred against law-abiding road users. Fact-free, trope-ridden, car-centric nonsense. Just what we need, more reasons for hatred and anger on the road. And dont give me the were just asking questions, you could have asked why are drivers encouraged to feel superior and entitled, but you didnt!On Facebook, another said: Id happily pay 1 per kg of bike weight as long as all vehicles on the road pays the same. So the average car would be about 2000 and a lorry would be 40000 a year my bike 8.Callum Devereux, a journalist with RoadCC, a UK cycling website, said: Although the account has a bigger profile on Instagram, interestingly the Facebook post appears to have outperformed expectations a little more, though that maybe that says more about the type of person using each app, and their likelihood of holding strong opinions on cyclists and tax.Incidentally, I thought since this was Ireland it would be worth checking my facts on road tax, and it turns out thats not a thing there either! Motor tax, paid by drivers and set according to the CO2 emissions produced by their vehicle, does go to a Local Government Fund, but that is not, and has never been, a fund exclusively for roads, he said in an article on Road.cc.Devereux said: Thankfully, the top-rated comments on Facebook are on hand to both point this out and highlight the attention-economy cesspit the company have chosen to dive into. How tiring He said Road.cc, as an online publisher, also rely on a strategy of engagement, but A key difference however is that we have an engaged enough audience to not need to drastically pivot to rage-posting opinions about having opinions, or goading people into hatred towards an imaginary group of people avoiding a tax that doesnt exist. But you can bet your last coin well be right there to call it out!Blaa Giveaways was contacted for comment yesterday, and Jenna responded, but did not give her full name or job title. Jenna said: We conducted an on the street interview based on a discussion on radio the previous week which got a lot of interest. We find any topic people have contrasting opinions on interesting. We posted all interviews from that day in the content piece. As the video evidences, the opinions on the day were mixed and varied.Were interested to hear all opinions, even ones we might disagree with personally, because it creates dialogue and discussion, which is the foundation of speech. We dont agree with omitting some opinions because we might not necessarily agree with them or indeed because others dont, she said.Jenna from Blaa Giveaways added: Please be advised our legal team also reviews all relevant published articles. Any alleged statement, insinuations, inferences or inaccuracies that could potentially be considered defaming to our brand will be dealt with in the strongest possible terms. I have forwarded this email to them and they will be in touch in due course.IrishCycle.com yesterday asked Blaa a number of follow-up questions, including whether it is normal for them to reply to requests for comment from journalists with thinly veiled legal threats, and if the company thinks it is a bit hypocritical to claim We dont agree with omitting some opinions because we might not necessarily agree with them or indeed because others dont and in the next breath threaten legal action for coverage of your video in which a number of commenters have pointed to as fueling hate towards cyclists.Blaa did not respond to these questions before this article was published. The company was also in the news recently after it backed down from raffling off a house in Tramore, Co Waterford, after local backlash.Six months ago, Paul Leonard, the founder of Blaa Giveaways, told that Paul OConnor Podcast that he really really wanted to raffle a house in Tramore, but, whle there were raffling a house in Dublin at the time, they had not found one in Tramore, as Theyre so hard to find if you go on Daft, theres about 10 houses in Tramore, and two or three are apartments which are three times the value of what they should be.He also pointed out that the overheads of these raffles are far higher than people think, including spending over 430,000 on adverts for the Dublin house raffle. The Journal reported that Waterford Sinn Fin TD Conor McGuinness told them that he had been contacted by residents worried about the risk of locals being priced out of the market in popular tourist towns. Deputy McGuinness also said that he had contacted the ministers for housing and justice, seeking clarity on how these activities are regulated. The Journal reported that Blaa cancelled the raffle after Leonard met with locals.