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On 19 December 2016, Ofcom held that an episode of RT’s Cross Talk discussion programme breached Rule 5.2 of Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code by failing to ensure due impartiality in a debate that it aired concerning NATO and its relationship with Russia. RT is a global news and current affairs channel produced in Russia and funded by the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation. In the UK, RT broadcasts on satellite and digital terrestrial platforms and is licensed to TV Novosti. Ofcom considered a complaint about an episode of Cross Talk broadcast on 11 July 2016 in...

The BBC has now published its response to Dame Janet Smith’s review of its culture and practices in relation to serious sexual misconduct by celebrities, notably Jimmy Saville and Stuart Hall (IRIS 2016-5/18). It sets out the current position and the rules and policies which are in place to prevent a repetition of the major organisational failures criticised in the report, including failings in audience controls, sharing of information and the attitude of staff in general towards sexual harassment. A new child protection policy has been introduced, supported by a code of conduct which applies to...

On 29 November 2016, Ofcom updated its plans to reform the structure of Openreach, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BT (British Telecom) Group. Openreach develops and maintains the United Kingdom’s main telecoms network, including broadband, and its infrastructure is used by other providers such as Sky, Talk Talk, Vodafone and BT’s own retail business. In February 2016, in its Strategic Review of Digital Communications in the United Kingdom, Ofcom expressed its concern that Openreach was not sufficiently independent of BT, that it favoured BT in its dealings, and that this was anti-competitive...

On 28 October 2016, the English High Court held that the comments made by a BBC interviewer during a live broadcast to the effect that the claimant, the Chief Imam of Lewisham Islamic Centre, “is an extremist speaker” who has “promoted and encouraged religious violence” were “substantially true”, i.e., the defence to the libel action which succeeded was “justification” (meaning that the words complained of are substantially true). The complainant first used the BBC’s complaints procedure before applying to the Court for relief. The Court held that the words complained of meant that the complainant...

The UK Government has introduced amendments to the Digital Economy Bill which will enable the blocking of pornographic websites which do not put into place age verification measures to ensure that they are not accessed by persons under 18. The Digital Economy Bill contains measures to require that pornographic sites include age verification measures. If these are not in place, pornographic content made available on a commercial basis will constitute “offending material”. The system will be supervised by the British Board of Film Classification, which is responsible for the age classification of...