.png)
9 hours ago
4
The BBC has said it was wrong to believe the punk duo Bob Vylan were “suitable for live streaming with appropriate mitigations” for their performance at Glastonbury festival, despite ranking them as “high risk” before the event.
In a statement signalling there would be repercussions for those blamed for the failure, the corporation said any musical performances deemed to be high risk would now not be broadcast live or streamed live.
Those overseeing such events would also be given more support and provided with “more detailed, practical guidance on the threshold for withdrawing a live stream”, it said.
Bobby Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, led chants of “death, death to the IDF”, referring to the Israel Defense Forces, at Glastonbury last Saturday.
The BBC initially placed a warning on screen for viewers, but later said it regretted not intervening by pulling the live stream. The BBC director general, Tim Davie, was at the festival in the hours after the set and ordered the content not to feature in any further BBC coverage, but technical issues meant it remained on the iPlayer for several hours.
Davie has come under significant pressure from the government over the Bob Vylan performance, as well as facing questions over a Gaza documentary pulled from iPlayer. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said this week that one editorial error was “something that must be gripped. When you have several, it becomes a problem of leadership.”
However, Davie was backed by the BBC’s chair, Samir Shah, who said that while the incident was “unquestionably an error of judgment”, he praised Davie’s reaction to it. “He took immediate action and instructed the team to withdraw the performance from on-demand coverage,” he said. Both Davie and Shah apologised for the live broadcast.
“The board fully supports the director general and the swift actions taken by him and his team to identify these errors and address them,” Shah said.
The BBC is lining up disciplinary action against others who were directly involved. “Given the failings that have been acknowledged, we are taking actions to ensure proper accountability for those found to be responsible for those failings in the live broadcast,” it said in a statement. “We will not comment further on those processes at this time.”
In its statement, the BBC said due diligence had been carried out on the band, but the wrong decision had been taken thereafter. “Bob Vylan were deemed high risk following a risk assessment process applied to all acts appearing at Glastonbury,” it said. “Seven acts including Bob Vylan were included in this category and they were all deemed suitable for livestreaming with appropriate mitigations.
“Prior to Glastonbury, a decision was taken that compliance risks could be mitigated in real time on the live stream – through the use of language or content warnings – without the need for a delay. This was clearly not the case.
“During the performance, the live stream was monitored in line with the agreed compliance protocols and a number of issues were escalated. Warnings appeared on the stream on two occasions and the editorial team took the decision not to cut the feed. This was an error.”
Writing to staff, Davie said: “I deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to say sorry – to our audience and to all of you, but in particular to Jewish colleagues and the Jewish community.
“We are unequivocal that there can be no place for antisemitism at the BBC. I and everyone need to ensure that the BBC is a role model for inclusivity and tolerance and we all have a part to play. We are utterly committed to creating an environment where everyone is supported and can do their very best work.”
Since Glastonbury, the band have said they have been “targeted for speaking up” over Gaza. “We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people,” they said. “[We] are not the story. We are a distraction from the story. And whatever sanctions we receive will be a distraction.
“The government doesn’t want us to ask why they remain silent in the face of this atrocity? To ask why they aren’t doing more to stop the killing? To feed the starving?”
