The BBC has released a new statement after the broadcasting of punk group Bob Vylan's performance at Glastonbury this past weekend, setting out some of the changes that the broadcaster is making in the wake of the controversy.
In the set, the group's singer, Bobby Vylan, led chants of "death to the IDF" (referring to the Israel Defence Forces) and also used the slogan "from the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be, free".
Today's statement from the BBC reads: "We fully understand the strength of feeling regarding Bob Vylan’s live appearance at Glastonbury on the BBC. We deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to apologise to our viewers and listeners and in particular the Jewish community. We are also unequivocal that there can be no place for antisemitism at, or on, the BBC.
"It is clear that errors were made both in the lead-up to and during Bob Vylan’s appearance. We think it’s important to set out some of the detail around the streaming of this performance."
The statement goes on to state that Bob Vylan were deemed to be "high risk" following a risk assessment process that is applied to all Glastonbury acts, with it being deemed suitable for Bob Vylan's set to be live streamed "with appropriate mitigations".
"Prior to Glastonbury, a decision was taken that compliance risks could be mitigated in real time on the live stream – through the use of language or content warnings - without the need for a delay," it added. "This was clearly not the case.
"During the performance, the livestream was monitored in line with the agreed compliance protocols and a number of issues were escalated. Warnings appeared on the stream on two occasions and the editorial team took the decision not to cut the feed. This was an error."
The statement then outlines that BBC director-general Tim Davie was "made aware of what had happened and instructed the team that none of the performance should feature in further coverage".
"The team prioritised stopping the performance from featuring on demand. This meant that no downloads of Bob Vylan’s set were available on iPlayer or Sounds. However, the live feed, which was showing subsequent performances from other acts on the same Glastonbury stage, remained up until it was amended shortly after 8pm while teams worked on a technical solution.
"Given the failings that have been acknowledged we are taking actions to ensure proper accountability for those found to be responsible for those failings in the live broadcast. We will not comment further on those processes at this time."
The statement also maps out immediate changes that have been made to the BBC's process of showing music events, which include now not broadcasting or streaming live any music performances that are deemed to be "high risk", "having on site editorial policy support at major music festivals and events to improve compliance processes and the speed of available advice", as well as "provide more detailed, practical guidance on the threshold for withdrawing a live stream".
BBC director-general Davie shared the statement in a message to all BBC staff today, adding: "We are utterly committed to creating an environment where everyone is supported and can do their very best work."
As well as the BBC's statement on Bob Vylan's performance, BBC Chair Samir Shah has also apologised in a statement.
He said: "This was unquestionably an error of judgement. I was very pleased to note that as soon as this came to the notice of Tim Davie - who was on the Glastonbury site at the time visiting BBC staff - he took immediate action and instructed the team to withdraw the performance from on demand coverage.
“The BBC Board met on Tuesday to hear what actions will now be taken. The Executive have agreed to put in place a set of strengthened editorial practices and policies for live music programming. These will be important measures to safeguard future live broadcasts from a failure such as this.
“I am satisfied that the Executive is initiating a process to ensure proper accountability for those found to be responsible for the failings in this incident. While it is important that the process is carried out fairly and correctly, it is equally important that the Executive takes decisive action.
“The Board fully supports the Director-General and the swift actions taken by him and his team to identify these errors and address them.”
Following Bob Vylan's performance at the weekend, Bobby Vylan posted on Instagram to say that he had been "inundated" with messages of "support and hatred", adding: "I said what I said."
Earlier this week, Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that it has launched a criminal investigation into the performances by Bob Vylan and fellow performers Kneecap at this year's Glastonbury.
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