GB News show breaches Ofcom rules for a second time

Ofcom has upheld GB News for a second time, with The Mark Steyn Programme again falling foul of the broadcasting regulations for peddling misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine. 

This time, the complaint focused on Steyn’s interview with Dr Naomi Wolf, who made “serious claims about the Covid-19 vaccine” which included comparing its rollout to the pre-meditated crime of “mass murder”. Wolf also compared the rollout to the actions of “doctors in pre-Nazi Germany”.

The episode, which aired on 4 October 2022, received 422 complaints. Ofcom concluded that the programme had fallen short of the Broadcasting Code by allowing Wolf to promote “a serious conspiracy theory without challenge or context”.

While broadcasters are free to transmit programmes that include controversial or challenging views, they are required to ensure that if content has the potential to be harmful, the broadcaster must ensure that its audience is adequately protected. 

In a statement, Ofcom wrote: “Our investigation concluded that GB News fell short of this requirement by allowing Naomi Wolf to promote a serious conspiracy theory without challenge or context - for example through other contributions in the programme or by the presenter, who appeared to support many of her comments. There was also no scrutiny of the evidence she claimed to hold to support her claims.

We also took into account that the programme presented Naomi Wolf as a figure of authority, with particular knowledge and expertise in the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines. We consider this would have lent credibility to her unchallenged claims. Of particular concern was her significant and alarming claim that ‘mass murder’ was taking place through the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccinations, which she repeated three times.”

Ofcom has asked for a meeting with GB News to discuss its compliance approach. The channel had already been found in breach for a programme, the 21 April 2022 edition of Steyn’s programming, which also discussed Covid-19 vaccinations. 

The regulator ruled that  that episode “presented a materially misleading interpretation of official data without sufficient challenge or counterweight, risking harm to viewers”.

An episode of GB News’ Saturday Morning with Esther and Philip, broadcast on 11 March 2023 and featuring an interview with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, is also being investigated on grounds of impartiality.