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BBC removes ‘partisan’ videos for children on Israel-Palestine
A complainant accused the BBC of ‘encouraging illegal conduct’ by providing the content to schools
June 1, 2021 13:46
A complainant accused the BBC of ‘encouraging illegal conduct’ by providing the content to schools
June 1, 2021 13:46The BBC has removed a series of “educational” videos about Israel and Palestine from its website following a complaint from charity UK Lawyers for Israel.
The videos formed part of the BBC’s ‘Bitesize’ educational content, which is aimed at children and designed for use in schools.
UKLFI described the content as “unbalanced and partisan” and accused the BBC of “encouraging illegal conduct” by providing them to schools.
The charity argued that the BBC’s provision of the videos within schools contravene the 1996 Education Act, which forbids “political indoctrination at maintained schools” and requires schools to take reasonable steps to ensure a balanced presentation of opposing views are offered to pupils.
Responding to UKLFI’s complaint, Helen Foulkes, Head of BBC Education said: “These films form part of Bitesize’s legacy content, which was migrated to the current site several years ago.
“They are part of a range of content which we have begun to review to ensure that it remains compliant with the most recent BBC Editorial Guidelines.
“The series will be suspended from the site whilst this editorial review is carried out. Once the review has been completed, we will decide which content to retire permanently and which to reinstate and/or edit.”
Jonathan Turner, Chief Executive of UKLFI, said: “We asked the BBC to investigate this matter and remedy it in an appropriate way to promote a balanced presentation of this controversial subject and we hope that the BBC is now doing so.”