Perhaps he meant "are controversial" and thus "likely to spark discussion."

If he literally meant "piss people off", then I agree with you...

Well, it is usually in the sense that people are more likely to discuss issues they are pissed off about (proof is available of such if needed, but just think of how much more likely you are to contact a company if they pissed you off, as opposed to just marginally satisfied you). Thus, controversial issues such as this might go left undiscussed if they didn't rile a certain crowd.

That said, I'd agree that it would be better to refer to it as being 'roused' to discussion.