Petition: Defend BBC independence from Trump’s interference
Signatures:
To: Keir Starmer, prime minister
The director-general of the BBC has resigned – in a move that appears aimed at appeasing Donald Trump.
This is a dangerous exporting of Trump’s authoritarian influence over the media beyond the borders of the US itself, and an attack on the independence of UK institutions.
The Trump administration complained about the editing of a 10-second clip of a Trump speech, broadcast only in a single BBC Panorama programme over a year ago. This is part of their continuing denial of Trump’s culpability for his January 6th coup attempt.
It has now been confirmed that Trump threatened to sue the BBC, using the same techniques he has deployed to intimidate US news media, including lawsuits against CBS News, ABC News, the New York Times and more.
The BBC has many flaws. “Anti-Trump bias” is certainly not one of them.
It has bent over backwards in recent years to avoid angering the right-wing press – only to be on the receiving end of a coordinated attack by the Telegraph, the Tory party and Trump.
The BBC’s top bosses have again capitulated, while the British government has again failed to stand up against Trump’s bullying.
Now it is crucial that the government defends the independence of the BBC’s reporting in the face of Trump’s attempts to undermine the free press.
We need an urgent investigation into what pressure was applied on the BBC and the UK government by the US.
A free and independent media is a cornerstone of democracy. The UK news media should never have to fear retribution for its reporting on an American president.