The BBC's Arabic channel has come under fire for its coverage of a Hamas attack on an Israeli city, as well as for failing to moderate antisemitic comments on its YouTube channel.
🧵Even though the @Telegraph notified @BBCArabic about this, the YouTube video description still contains the offensive question. The same is true of hundreds of violent and hateful comments below videos in which Israeli victims share their stories (1/3)https://t.co/bDvxZ5SQ3K https://t.co/WWvJ3DlRQC pic.twitter.com/gahSGsrag5
— CAMERA UK (@CAMERAorgUK) July 14, 2024
In a recent YouTube video discussing the Hamas attack on Ra'anana, which resulted in the death of 79-year-old Edna Bluestein and injured more than a dozen others, BBC Arabic posed a controversial question to viewers. The caption asked, "Does resorting to running overs and stabbing reflect despair at the possibility of putting an end to the war on Gaza and the suffering of Palestinians in the West Bank? How do you view such an operation, terrorism or resistance?"
Critics argue that framing the debate in this manner suggests the BBC might consider it legitimate to describe Hamas attackers as resistance fighters. The attack, for which Hamas claimed responsibility, involved both stabbings and vehicular assaults.
A spokesperson for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) said: "The fact that BBC Arabic's YouTube channel asks its viewers whether the murder of a 79-year-old woman is 'terrorism or resistance' is in line with the BBC's general insistence on avoiding the word 'terrorism' in relation to any attack on Israeli civilians, including the atrocities of October 7."
The controversy extends beyond this single incident. Numerous antisemitic comments have been left unmoderated on BBC Arabic's YouTube channel. For instance, a report about the Oct. 7 attacks garnered over 125,000 views and 405 comments, many of which were offensive and violent towards Jews and Israelis.
Another video featuring an interview with a young Israeli woman who survived the Oct. 7 attacks attracted similar inflammatory comments. One user wrote, "Enjoy your stay while it lasts or while you draw breath, your reckoning is at hand, and man will it be a sight to burn in memories. You are in for the let down of your life."
Camera has raised concerns about the BBC's moderation practices, noting that while some offensive comments were removed from Facebook following complaints, similar comments on YouTube remained unedited or undeleted.
In response to these criticisms, a BBC spokesperson stated: "BBC News Arabic reflects debates taking place across the Middle East including on polarising and sensitive subject matters around the Israel-Gaza war. As part of this reporting, we invite a wide variety of contributors to provide differing perspectives and routinely question views on air."
The spokesperson added that BBC News Arabic is subject to the same Editorial Guidelines as the rest of BBC News and takes its commitment to impartiality "incredibly seriously."
Regarding comment moderation, the BBC acknowledged the challenges faced by many media companies, including The Telegraph, in moderating comments on social media platforms. "Although we deploy filtering software, this doesn't always identify problems, so much of our moderation is manual. With millions of followers, we have not always been able to remove offensive comments as quickly as we would like. If they are brought to our attention, we will take action," the spokesperson explained.
