Cut virtue signalling and emojis or risk sack, BBC tells stars
BBC staff were yesterday cautioned against ‘virtue signalling’ on social media as stringent rules were unveiled.
They were also warned not to use emojis, hashtags and likes to ‘undercut impartiality’ – and told not to ‘bring the BBC into disrepute’.
Breaching the guidelines could lead to employees being fired.
It comes after director-general Tim Davie, 53, who took charge last month, pledged to clamp down on social media use after a series of embarrassing impartiality rows.
The rules unveiled yesterday aim to ‘ensure the highest possible standards of impartiality across the organisation’.
They include a new public Parliament-style register which will name employees who take on outside work, following criticism that presenters were risking impartiality while topping up salaries.
Those working in news, current affairs and senior management – as well some presenters with a ‘significant public profile’, believed to include the likes of
‘Vital for maintaining trust’
Gary Lineker – are expected to adhere to the most stringent of rules.
They are banned from expressing ‘a personal opinion on matters of public policy, politics or controversial subjects’, publicly supporting any political party or revealing how they vote. The guidance explicitly states that ‘there is no difference’ between personal and work accounts and that disclaimers stating views are their own ‘do not offer protection’ to colleagues.
It also lists more than 25 do’s and don’ts to avoid a perception of bias.
Journalists have been banned from breaking news stories on their personal accounts first and are reminded their ‘personal brand’ is always secondary to the BBC.
Staff are even warned against using emojis, which can ‘accidentally or deliberately... undercut an otherwise impartial post’. The directive was immediately mocked by news presenter Huw Edwards, who tweeted this rule accompanied by a stream of Welsh flag emojis.
And all staff – including freelancers – must not criticise colleagues in the public domain, or attend protests.
In an email announcing the rules, Tim Davie said: ‘ How employees of the BBC conduct themselves is vital to maintaining trust.’
Recent i mpartiality rows include one over Emily Maitlis’s Newsnight monologue in May about the Dominic Cummings lockdown furore. She said the Prime Minister’s chief adviser broke the rules and ‘the country can see that’.
And during the last election campaign, Edwards was criticised after he liked a tweet of a video which said ‘Vote Labour f or t he National Health Service’.
Mr Edwards later claimed that he had not seen the ‘ Vote Labour’ message at the end of the clip.