GB News found in breach of Ofcom broadcasting rules

GB News has been found in breach of Ofcom rules for the first time, with an episode of the Mark Steyn Programme about Covid-19 vaccinations breaking broadcasting rules.

The episode is said to have “presented a materially misleading interpretation of official data without sufficient challenge or counterweight, risking harm to viewers.”

During the programme, which aired on 21 April 2022, Steyn (who departed from the news channel last month) was discussing Covid-19 vaccinations.

While Ofcom maintained that, ‘broadcasters are free to transmit programmes which may be considered controversial and challenging, or which question statistics or other evidence produced by governments and official sources”, the regulator said that Mark Steyn episode has fallen short of these standards.

‘Specifically, the programme incorrectly claimed that official UKHSA data provided definitive evidence of a causal link between receiving a third Covid-19 vaccine and higher infection, hospitalisation and death rates.

“This was materially misleading because the way the data was presented to viewers during the programme did not take account of the significant differences in age or health of people in the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups studied.”

Ofcom’s statement added: “We also took into account the definitive way in which the misleading interpretation of the data was presented, and the absence of adequate counterweight or genuine challenge. The programme also failed to reflect that the UKHSA reports made clear that the raw data contained within them should not be used to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the vaccine.”

It went on: “Given these misleading claims were broadcast as part of a factual programme on a news and current affairs service and may have resulted in viewers making important decisions about their own health, we concluded that the programme was potentially harmful and materially misleading, in breach of Rule 2.2 of the Broadcasting Code.”

This is the first breach of Ofcom broadcasting rules recorded against GB News since its launch in June 2021, with a total of 3,432 complaints made against it.

This represents 3% of all broadcast complaints during this period. Almost half (1,665) were related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

An additional investigation into another episode of Mark Steyn, which aired on 4 October 2022, remains ongoing.

Previously, an investigation into Talking Pints with Nigel Farage in August 2021, related to offensive language, concluded that the programme was not in breach of Ofcom rules.