By Liam de Brun
The BBC has announced a major change after Bob Vylan鈥檚 鈥榟igh risk鈥 Glastonbury set at the weekend. Punk rap duo Bob Vylan led chants of 鈥榙eath, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)鈥 during a livestreamed performance at the annual festival on Saturday afternoon (June 28). The BBC have since apologised after the set at the West Holts Stage was livestreamed, saying on Monday (June 30) the chants had 鈥榓ntisemitic sentiments鈥 and were 鈥榰nacceptable鈥. Issuing a new statement about the controversy on Thursday (July 3), the broadcaster admitted Bob Vylan were assessed as 鈥榟igh risk鈥 before their performance, but were 鈥榙eemed suitable for live streaming with appropriate mitigations鈥. Adding that this was 鈥榗learly not the case鈥, the broadcaster said they 鈥榝ully understand the strength of feeling regarding Bob Vylan鈥檚 live appearance at Glastonbury on the BBC鈥. The statement read: 鈥淲e 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. 鈥淚t is clear that errors were made both in the lead-up to and during Bob Vylan鈥檚 appearance. We think it鈥檚 important to set out some of the detail around the streaming of this performance. 鈥淏ob Vylan were deemed high risk following a risk assessment process applied to all acts appearing at Glastonbury. Seven acts including Bob Vylan were included in this category and they were all deemed suitable for live streaming with appropriate mitigations.鈥 It continued: 鈥淧rior to Glastonbury, a decision was taken that compliance risks could be mitigated in real time on the live stream 鈥 through the use of language or content warnings 鈥 without the need for a delay. This was clearly not the case. 鈥淒uring the performance, the live stream 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.鈥 Music performances that are deemed by the BBC high risk will not be broadcast live or streamed live on the broadcaster going forward. The statement went on: 鈥淭he Director-General was subsequently made aware of what had happened and instructed the team that none of the performance should feature in further coverage. 鈥淭he team prioritised stopping the performance from featuring on demand. This meant that no downloads of Bob Vylan鈥檚 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. 鈥淕iven 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.鈥 It concluded: 鈥淔urthermore, as a result we will make immediate changes to live streaming music events. “Any music performances deemed high risk will now not be broadcast live or streamed live; Editorial Policy support will always be available on site at major music festivals and events, to improve compliance processes and the speed of available advice; and we will provide more detailed, practical guidance on the threshold for withdrawing a live stream.鈥