Complaint
This episode of a podcast series which examines conspiracy theories included this passage about observations made by the former Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Totnes:
They compared two separate visits from Carl Benjamin, a former UKIP candidate who ran a YouTube channel called Sargon of Akkad before it was suspended by the platform. He first appeared in Totnes with a former Breitbart editor, Milo Yiannopolous, a man associated with the far right. At the time a local group in Totnes condemned Benjamin’s use of rape threats and racist tropes, as well as engagement with white supremacists.
A listener complained this was inaccurate, in giving the impression that Mr Benjamin’s YouTube channel had been permanently suspended by the platform, in saying he had been accompanied by Mr Yiannopolous in a visit to Totnes and in referring to a second visit when Mr Benjamin maintained he had visited the town only once. He also complained that Mr Benjamin had not been afforded a right of reply. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú’s editorial standards of accuracy and fairness to contributors.
Outcome
The ECU considered it relevant to the issues of accuracy and fairness that Mr Benjamin featured in the podcast only as a barometer of changing public opinion in Totnes (the former Mayor and Deputy Mayor having observed that some who had protested against his views on his first visit had demonstrated in his support on the second) and that neither he nor his views were the subject of discussion.Â
In relation to his YouTube channel, the ECU noted that the platform had demonetised his account following his posting of a video which included certain comments about rape and had taken other punitive actions at various times. While accepting that listeners might have drawn an incorrect inference that the account had been permanently suspended, the ECU did not consider this would have materially affected the main impression likely to be formed by listeners, which was that Mr Benjamin’s channel was such as to incur sanction by YouTube.Â
In relation the presence of Mr Yiannopolous, it was a matter of public record that he had accompanied Mr Benjamin on a visit to south west England during the last European Parliament election campaign, and that the two had been expected to appear together at an event in Totnes Market Square on 12 May 2019. Although the ECU was not aware of proof that Mr Yiannopolous had attended as expected, it did not consider that uncertainty on this point would have materially affected listeners’ understanding of the matter under discussion, which was the apparent shift in local public opinion between this visit and a later occasion.Â
In relation to that later occasion, the ECU noted Mr Benjamin’s reported denial of having made a second visit to Totnes, but also that his return to the town had been attested by a number of eyewitnesses of good standing, and considered it legitimate to have reported accordingly.
In relation to right of reply, the ECU noted that the podcast made no allegations of wrongdoing against Mr Benjamin, but simply reported adverse reaction to material which he had placed on the public record. This did not give rise to any obligation to offer him an opportunity to reply.
Not upheld