Gary Lineker breached the BBC’s social media rules in tweets about Tory MPs during a row about the Government’s Rwanda policy, the incoming corporation Chairman believes. BBC News has the story.
Samir Shah told MPs that he defended the right to freedom of speech but such rows damaged the BBC’s reputation.
He said the sports presenter’s replies on X “seem to breach” rules against attacking individuals.
Lineker maintains that his social media posts are within the BBC’s guidelines.
MPs on the Culture Media and Sport Committee were questioning Dr. Shah ahead of his confirmation as BBC Chairman after he was named as the Government’s choice following Richard Sharp’s resignation in April.
Although the BBC is independent, the Chairman is appointed by the Government.
Lineker, 63, added his name to an open letter opposing the Government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
That sparked criticism from Tory MPs, including Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, party Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson, and Jonathan Gullis, who accused him of breaching impartiality and complained to the corporation.
The Match of the Day presenter later said on X that he would “put a word in” for Mr. Anderson when he lost his seat at the next General Election, criticised Mr. Shapps’s use of several names in business dealings and said Mr. Gullis “hasn’t read the new guidelines… or, should I say, had someone read them to him?”
The row follows previous complaints about Lineker’s social media activities, which led to a review of guidelines conducted by the former Editor-in-Chief of ITN, John Hardie.
Dr. Shah told the committee that he didn’t think that the row “was very helpful either for Gary Lineker or the BBC or the cause he supports because it becomes a story about Gary Lineker and the BBC.”
“Non-news presenters are free to express their opinions but there is some guidance on civility, manner, and not to make ad hominem attacks,” he said
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