BBC to restrict hosts' social media for chiding anti-migration remarks
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This comes after Gary Lineker, a prominent broadcaster, criticized Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary of the UK, for her comments regarding asylum seekers.
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Soccer broadcaster Gary Lineker arrives ahead of the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Chelsea, at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, on March 11, 2023. (AP)
The BBC has issued new guidelines limiting what prominent broadcasters like Gary Lineker may say on social media.
In March, Match of the Day presenter Lineker, England's fourth most prolific goalscorer, sparked an impartiality row by criticizing the British government's new policy on tackling irregular immigration.
The 62-year-old compared the language used to launch the new policy to that of Nazi-era Germany on Twitter, which the BBC called a "breach of our guidelines."
The BBC was obliged to air its flagship Match of the Day show without Lineker and his colleagues due to the fallout. It announced that new guidelines for presenters would be announced in the future.
Braverman has been criticized by Conservative party members for her "racist rhetoric", accusing her of sabotaging the party in order to further her personal leadership ambitions.
Lineker also expressed he thought the new rules placed by the BBC were "sensible". According to the BBC, the standards, which apply to Alan Sugar from The Apprentice, as well as hosts on Antiques Roadshow, Dragon's Den, The One Show, Masterchef, Top Gear, and Strictly Come Dancing would not allow "political campaigning".
Hosts would be prohibited from advocating or criticizing political parties when the show is airing, as well as for a two-week period before and after any series.
The BBC added that the new standards prohibit presenters from criticizing the character of individual politicians in the UK, commenting on any matter of political dispute during an election season, or acting in an official capacity for a campaigning organization.
The hosts will also hold a "particular responsibility to respect the BBC's impartiality, because of their profile on the BBC."
