The BBC’s director general, Lord Tony Hall, told audiences at the Global Conference for Media Freedom in London that the world was facing “"the biggest assault on truth since the 1930s”.
The news chief compared the spread of ‘fake news’ to Nazi party propaganda leading to the Second World War.
— Foreign Office 🇬🇧 #DefendMediaFreedom (@foreignoffice) July 11, 2019
"All those who believe in integrity in news must work together to turn the tide," Lord Hall said.
He added that the BBC had a leading role in combatting global ‘fake news’ and media censorship and that the BBC was “ready to do even more to promote freedom of expression worldwide”.
— IBT (@_ibt) July 11, 2019
Lord Hall told the conference that his company needed to “reassert the core principles of good journalism like never before”.
“In a sea of disinformation and partisan reporting, we need to stand up for independence, impartiality, and reporting without fear or favour,” he said, adding that he was “determined” to use the company’s “unique reach and trusted voice” to build a “global alliance for integrity in news”.
However, Lord Hall was immediately roasted on Twitter for his comments, with multiple people slamming the BBC for censoring media and spreading fake news itself.
— FortyKings (@Forty40Kings) July 11, 2019
— Cornwall for Europe #FBPE (@Cornwall4EU) July 11, 2019
— Allison Pearson (@allisonpearson) July 2, 2019
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) July 11, 2019
Ms Clooney said that the current “media crisis” involved the “silencing of truth” and “amplification of misinformation” to unprecedented levels, adding that the way the "world responds to this crisis will define our generation and determine whether democracy can survive". Ms Clooney has also been apart of Assange's his legal team, who slammed US extradition requests against him as "an outrageous and full-frontal assault on journalistic rights".
The BBC recently came under fire after making a BBC panorama documentary alleging antisemitism in the UK Labour Party, which was produced by veteran correspondent John Ware and criticised UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his advisors, leading to a Momentum petition lambasting the news outlet for its 'anti-Corbyn bias'. Tory PM frontrunner Boris Johnson also roasted the BBC's political coverage, calling the outlet the "Brexit Bashing Corporation" and accusing the BBC of being deeply biased and should not have revoked free licencing for 3.7m senior citizens.
