UK communications watchdog to sanction BBC
British communications watchdog Ofcom has ruled that state broadcaster the BBC breached journalistic code for failing to disclose that the narrator of a Gaza documentary was the son of a Hamas official.
In a statement on Friday, the regulator announced that its probe into the BBC’s ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’ documentary found it to be “materially misleading.”
The film, which was originally released in February, was partly narrated by the 13-year-old son of the Hamas deputy agriculture minister. The Palestinian militant group is designated as a terrorist organization in the UK, US, and EU.
“The program’s failure to disclose that the narrator’s father held a position in the Hamas-run administration was materially misleading,” Ofcom said on Friday, adding that this could have eroded audience trust.
“This represents a serious breach of our rules,” it said.
The watchdog has directed the BBC to publish a statement on the investigation’s findings during evening primetime, with an exact date to be determined later.
The BBC apologized for the incident on Friday, and accepted the regulator’s decision.
The broadcaster has been under intense scrutiny over its coverage of the Gaza war. It has recently faced backlash for airing an anti-Israeli musical performance from Glastonbury Festival.
Last year, more than 100 staff members complained to Director General Tim Davie of insufficiently covering the Palestinian side of the conflict.
Ofcom sanctioned RT and revoked its broadcasting license over its coverage of the Ukraine conflict, soon after the escalation in 2022. RT and other Russian media outlets have faced sanctions and outright bans in many Western European nations since.
Despite this, they have expanded their reach, while Western networks have scaled back their activities amid budget cuts and shifting foreign policy concerns, the BBC reported in August.
