The BBC has taken six journalists in the Middle East off air as it urgently investigates whether they posted anti-Israeli messages on social media.
The BBC News Arabic reporters are suspected of breaking the British broadcaster’s strict impartiality rules by tweeting or liking posts that appeared to be supportive of Hamas on Twitter, now X.
The BBC said: “We are urgently investigating this matter. We take allegations of breaches of our editorial and social media guidelines with the utmost seriousness, and if and when we find breaches we will act, including taking disciplinary action.”
The posts in question have been taken down, but The Daily Telegraph reported that they likened Hamas to freedom fighters and described the October 7 terror attack on Israel as a “morning of hope.” One message is reported to have said: “Israel’s prestige is crying in the corner.”
The Daily Telegraph’s report was based on an investigation by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), a U.S.-based organization that campaigns for balanced media coverage of Israel and the Middle East.
CAMERA said: “These revelations about BBC Arabic employees go hand in hand with the outlet’s ongoing conduct during the war. The BBC has repeatedly whitewashed the practice of targeting Jewish civilians in Israel even before the current escalation.
“They constantly claim that they apply the same editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality to their services in all languages, including those with which BBC management is not familiar and can’t oversee properly, such as Arabic.
“But these lapses do not occur anywhere near as frequently in their English language content, so that can’t be taken seriously.”
