"We shouldn't let them get away with some of the vile stuff that they're pushing out."
The government must take a tougher stance on Ofcom if it is to stop some of the hate being spewed by right-wing channels such as GB News, the head of Hope not Hate, has said.
GB News has found itself in hot water with the media regulator Ofcom on a number of occasions, including for platforming false information as well as for breaching impartiality rules. More recently after more than six months of investigation, Ofcom has concluded that GB News breached the broadcasting code when a presenter repeated a homophobic slur.
However, critics have said that Ofcom hasn’t gone far enough, despite repeated breaches by GB News.
During an interview with LFF live we asked Nick Lowles, Hope not Hate chief executive, what progressives could be doing to combat the right-wing narratives presented in the media.
He said: “Collectively we’ve got to be better at holding these people to account, where Ofcom or whoever are too weak, we need to do something about that.
“I mean, we had this situation, I think, GB News last week, where one of their presenters or one of their people kind of just said that, I think it was, like Eid’s used for Muslims to bring white people in to be raped, or something like that, into mosques… this was on GB News.
“It was, like, the most horrific thing I’ve heard, and actually we need to hold them to account, and if Ofcom isn’t going to do it, then the government needs to step in and do something about Ofcom.”
Lowles was referring to a GB News presenter claiming that in the UK, Muslims spend Eid by inviting their families round so that they could ‘abuse young working class white girls’.
Lowles went on to add: ”First of all, we shouldn’t let them get away with some of the vile stuff that they’re pushing out.
“Secondly, I think we need more people like you. I’m sure, it must feel a lonely world when you look at what’s happening on the right and how big all these things are going, but it is vital that you’re there. I think there’s a role and a responsibility to funders.”
Lowles asked where the left-wing media eco system was and called for better funding of progressive publications.
He added: “We’ve got to support and innovate and find ways for our side of politics to kind of reach bigger audiences.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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