The BBC should face sanctions over online readers’ comments following its interactive debate on Uganda's proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Human Rights speaker Trevor Phillips has argued.
The debate, hosted in the Have Your Say section of the BBC’s website and titled: "Should homosexuals face execution?” attracted many offensive comments from readers.
Now Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), is calling for his organisation to take legal action to force the BBC into taking greater care when moderating its readers' comments.
The BBC was forced to publish an apology last week after the debate attracted a storm of criticism. The controversy is set to continue now Phillips has drawn attention to the comments on the BBC's Uganda website, which are said to break codes of practice by being homophobic.
In a letter addressed to Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust the former TV presenter argued: “We wish to consider this question of what place, if any, there may be for the public sector duty to extend to those areas of the BBC output where there is potential for community relations to be damaged, such as on comment boards.”
The 55-year-old went on to call the debate and its comments “insensitive and irresponsible.”
In the UK the 'Should homosexuals face execution' debate garnered over 600 comments, of which only 200 were published. According to the Times online, one reader commented: “Totally agree. Ought to be imposed in the UK too, asap. Bring back some respectable family values.”