BBC needs to overhaul rules to regain trust after Gary Lineker’s Nazi tweet row, Ofcom warns
THE BBC needs to overhaul its social media rules to regain trust in the wake of the Gary Lineker row, Ofcom’s boss warned.
It was told to lose the grey area which led to the Match of the Day host being suspended then reinstated over his remark about migration policy.
The TV regulator’s CEO Melanie Dawes told MPs its rules around staff tweeting were too ambiguous.
Under-fire BBC chief Tim Davie has launched a review into social media use after Lineker, 62, likened the Government’s language over its Immigration Bill to 1930s Germany.
Ms Dawes told the Commons Culture Committee it needed to establish “a level of trust about what they require of the people who work for them”.
She said: “This goes straight to the heart of the BBC’s wider reputation beyond their news and current affairs coverage.
“They need to look at the guidelines and see whether they’re still right.”
It came as Culture Minister Julia Lopez claimed the licence fee was losing support among the public.
Tory MPs also accused the corporation of caving in to “out of touch, insensitive, avaricious, smug and arrogant football pundits”.
Ex-minister Damian Green called on “presenters whose reputations and bank balances are enhanced by regular appearances” to show self-restraint online.
Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell was also criticised for comparing the Government’s handling of the row to “Putin’s Russia”.