Following a Freedom of Information request (RFI20211280) which asked
“How many on air staff have been sanctioned for clear breaches to the current social media guidance in existence; when were those sanctions taken; and what did the sanctions involve, for each month of 2021 for which figures are available.”
The BBC replied that according to their HR records not a single person had been sanctioned:
Thank you for your request to the BBC of 5th August 2021 seeking the following information under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000:
We have understood your request to pertain to formal sanctions for breeches of social media guidance.
In response to your request a search against our HR database indicates that there has been no formal sanctions issued to BBC Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) on air employees.
As set out in section 6(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, our subsidiaries (including BBC Studioworks Limited, UKTV, BBC Global News Ltd and BBC Studios Ltd), as well as the charities BBC Media Action
and BBC Children in Need, are not subject to the Act. As such, information relating to these entities is not considered in the above response.
Whereas in 2020 there were 2 formal cases where social media was the reason for a BBC disciplinary process, in 2021 it seems Lewis Goodall sticking his oar in, or Emily Maitlis showboating, results in no sanctions. Has anything changed?
