This petition was submitted during the 2017-2019 parliament

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Petition Public inquiry into the bias in the BBC

The impartiality of the BBC is in question and needs addressing so as to protect its charter

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The impartiality of the BBC is in question and needs addressing so as to protect its charter

This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months

105,421 signatures

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Parliament debated this topic

This topic was debated on 15 July 2019

Government responded

This response was given on 14 January 2019

The BBC has a duty to deliver impartial, accurate news coverage and content under its Charter. Perceived editorial bias at the BBC is a matter for Ofcom as the independent regulator, not government.

Read the response in full

Impartiality is a key part of the BBC’s mission set out in the BBC Charter. The BBC’s mission is ‘to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain’.One of the BBC’s public purposes is to ensure that news and current affairs content is impartial, provided to the highest editorial standards, and offers a range and depth of analysis and content not available elsewhere.

It is for the BBC Board, not government, to set editorial standards and ensure the quality and impartiality of all BBC’s content. BBC Editorial Guidelines sets out that impartiality lies at the heart of the BBC’s commitment to audiences. The BBC Director-General is the editor-in-chief with final responsibility for BBC editorial matters of the BBC.

The BBC is independent of government and regulated by Ofcom. It is for Ofcom to hold the BBC to account on a range of areas, including perceived BBC bias. The BBC must comply with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code which contains rules for broadcasters on due impartiality and due accuracy and undue prominence of views and opinions. Ofcom sets the BBC operating licence which contains conditions it considers necessary for requiring the BBC to meet its mission and public purposes.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Online discussion

The Petitions Committee wants to know what you think about impartiality and the BBC.

The House of Commons Facebook page is hosting an online discussion, to get people's views on the issue before it's debated in the House of Commons on 15 July.

The discussion is live now and will run until 12 noon on Thursday 27 June. Join the discussion and tell us about your experiences and views.

Please comment on the thread here:

https://www.facebook.com/UKHouseofCommons/photos/a.183499548715839/875769506155503/?type=3&theater

We won't be able to reply to any direct messages.

Find out about how to get involved in your UK Parliament: http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/

Short survey

We want to hear about your experiences and views before petitions about the BBC are debated in Parliament on Monday 15 July at 4.30pm.

We learnt a lot from a recent online discussion about what petitioners think, and we'd now like to ask a few survey questions before the debate. Your responses to this very short survey will also help to inform the debate. Click on this link to complete the survey:

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/A3Z54/

Thank you for taking the time to let us know what you think.