By Iain Davis
With great fanfare, the BBC has launched BBC Verify. The state broadcaster's very own, specialist "disinformation and social media correspondent," Marianna Spring, announced its arrival live on UK TV. She explained that the BBC would verify video, fact check and "counter disinformation." So rest assured, no one needs to think about anything. The BBC will "fact check" everything for us and tell us what "the truth" is. Apparently, it "really matters" that the BBC acts as the UK government’s official arbiter of truth because, according to Spring, "mistruths" can "cause really serious harm to society." Marianna has yet to define "harm," but that doesn't really matter. The government hasn't either, despite the fact that it has placed its vague concept of "harm" at the centre of its equally ambiguous Online Safety Bill. Which is proposed state censorship legislation that Marianna is very keen to promote. Marianna said that we can familiarise ourselves with BBC truth if we are shown the BBC news team's "workings." A strange choice of words. While "workings" means "the way an organisation operates" it also means "a system of holes." It isn't clear which definition Marianna was using, although both seem appropriate in reference to BBC news coverage. Marianna proudly announced that the BBC were "able to look at maps." This presumably unique BBC capability supposedly enables their intrepid reporters to analyse "war zones." And find them too, which is handy. Read more here . . .
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October 2023
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