February 11, 2008 | Sex & Society

Fake porn site plays part in dirty politics

Smear campaigns have changed with the times. In Australia, an election for Townsville City Council turned nasty when someone used a porn site to discredit the city's current mayor.

The website, allegedly containing images of bestiality, was published at tonymoody.com. The domain name had even been registered to the City Council.

Deputy Mayor Jenny Hill argued the site was motivated by politics. "We are in an election campaign and there will always be dirty tactics, but this act sinks well below any standards of decency in our community,''  she said. "It is distressing for the (Tony) Mooney family and also for any member of the unsuspecting public who may have been subjected to this abomination of a site while innocently trying to get more information about Tony Mooney.''

The site is no longer active. That's one set of images we don't ever want to stumble on. The only animals we want to see having sex are the ones at the pub down the street.