THE BBC has said it will no longer broadcast or live stream performances it deems “high risk” following Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set.
The broadcaster said it was wrong to believe the punk duo Bob Vylan were “suitable for live streaming with appropriate mitigations” for their performance at the Glastonbury Festival last week.
The BBC said it had ranked the punk duo as “high risk” before the event, but following the fallout from the live performance, they have now decided to make immediate changes to their live streaming music events policy.
A statement from the BBC also signalled there would be repercussions for those responsible for the “failings” of not cutting the live feed of Bob Vylan’s performance at the weekend.
The statement said: “We fully understand the strength of feeling regarding Bob Vylan’s live appearance at Glastonbury on the BBC.
“Bob Vylan were deemed high risk following a risk assessment process applied to all acts appearing at Glastonbury. Seven acts including Bob Vylan were included in this category and they were all deemed suitable for live streaming with appropriate mitigations.
“Prior to Glastonbury, a decision was taken that compliance risks could be mitigated in real time on the live stream – through the use of language or content warnings – without the need for a delay. This was clearly not the case.
“During the performance, the live stream was monitored in line with the agreed compliance protocols and a number of issues were escalated. Warnings appeared on the stream on two occasions and the editorial team took the decision not to cut the feed. This was an error.
“Given the failings that have been acknowledged we are taking actions to ensure proper accountability for those found to be responsible for those failings in the live broadcast. We will not comment further on those processes at this time.
“Furthermore, as a result we will make immediate changes to live streaming music events.
“Any music performances deemed high risk will now not be broadcast live or streamed live.”
Avon and Somerset police have launched an investigation into the comments made during the group’s West Holts Stage set.
It has since emerged that the group were already under investigation by police for comments made at a concert one month before Glastonbury.
Video footage appears to show Bobby Vylan at Alexandra Palace telling crowds: “Death to every single IDF soldier out there as an agent of terror for Israel. Death to the IDF.”
The rap group issued a statement on Tuesday claiming they were being “targeted for speaking up” after Avon and Somerset police began its investigation.
