Ofcom has dismissed complaints that a Ukip party political broadcast was racist and Islamophobic – but admitted some viewers would have found it offensive.
The broadcasting regulator assessed 40 complaints about Ukip’s four-minute party political broadcast, which urged people to vote to exit the European Union because Turkey could join.
The PPB, which aired on ITV and the BBC in early February, highlighted Turkey’s Muslim population and claimed that up to 15 million Turkish citizens could migrate.
“Having considered several complaints about this UKIP party political broadcast, we won’t be taking the matter forward for investigation,” said a spokeswoman for Ofcom. “We found this broadcast was capable of causing offence but this was justified by its context as political speech, in which freedom of expression is very important.”
One of the complaints to Ofcom came from the Lib Dems, who accused Nigel Farage’s party of inciting racial and religious hatred as well as broadcasting factual inaccuracies.
Ofcom assessed the complaints but decided that they did not raise issues warranting moving to a full investigation under the broadcasting code.
