by The BBC have been cleared of the most serious breaches during the Glastonbury set of punk duo Bob Vylan. However, the Glastonbury set did break editorial guidelines, the new investigation has found.
Their set at Worthy Farm earlier this summer was met with particular hostility after the punk duo’s vocalist chanted, “Death to the IDF.” They also called out the BBC’s complicity in the “genocide in Gaza” using on-screen projections that underlined their message.
As a result of Bob Vylan’s comments at Glastonbury, their visas were revoked in the United States, and their management company, UTA, dropped them. Damon Albarn also deemed the set a “spectacular misfire”.
The BBC was questioned by the UK’s Culture, Media & Sport Committee over its actions around allowing the live feed of the performance to continue on iPlayer and on demand for several hours after. The director general had previously admitted that the BBC made “a very significant mistake” in broadcasting the performance on iPlayer. It was also reported by The Times that Clarke had stepped back from her role amid the controversy related to Bob Vylan’s set at Worthy Farm.
The new investigation has found that the BBC broke harm and offence guidelines over the IDF chants, and the use of the slogans “From the river to the sea” and “Free, free Palestine”. Nonetheless, the chants were not considered to incite violence. Though they can be seen as denying the existence of Israel, they can also be “regarded as no more than expressions of support for aspirations to a Palestinian state”, the report stated.
The report admitted that the “death to the IDF” chant was considered “clearly more problematic”. However, it was aimed at an institution “which is not defined by ethnic or religious composition” and not at an individual.
However, the frontman’s reference to a “f*cking Zionist” in relation to a record label boss was seen to breach guidance prohibiting “unduly intimidating, humiliating, intrusive, aggressive or derogatory remarks aimed at real people” and could “fairly be characterised as antisemitic”.
The BBC also did not breach impartiality rules, as it was concluded that they were not expected to meet the same standards as news or current affairs shows during a music event.
Local police continue to assess Bob Vylan’s on-stage comments. A similar investigation into Kneecap’s performance was thrown out after no further action from Avon and Somerset Police was needed.
