The BBC has deleted a post online after receiving backlash for downplaying antisemitism in its headline.
The broadcaster called the resignation of Harvard president Claudine Gay, who stepped down following criticisms of her response to antisemitism at the Ivy League university and allegations of plagiarism, a “casualty of campus culture wars”.
They shared the article on social media; however, it soon received a community note.
The note, which was added by readers as additional context, read: “Claudine Gay resigned due to several incidents of plagiarism being discovered in her academic work.”
Gay, Harvard’s first Black president, quit her job just six months and two days into the role
Reuters
Before being deleted, it was met with a wave of criticism online.
Jon Sopel, host of The News Agents podcast, wrote: “You sure you’ve got this headline right? What brought her down was her inability to say that calling for a holocaust would be offensive to Jewish students. Condemned by left and right. And then plagiarism claims. Calling it ‘culture wars’ is lazy and misleading methinks.
Andrew Neil also called out his former employer for the post: “Or a casualty of being unable to condemn outright calls for the genocide of Jews — and of increasing evidence of widespread plagiarism in her limited academic output.
“Your headline does not meet your regulatory requirement to be accurate and impartial.”
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Critics slammed the BBC for failing to include any reference to Gay’s controversial testimony at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism.
Lee Harris, GB News commentator, said: “Nothing to see here... Just the BBC completely misrepresenting the facts and openly defending an antisemitic plagiarist.
“Sadly, this is what we now expect from the BBC. Woke, left-wing, agenda-driven, group think. Thank God for Community Notes.”
The post was removed, with the notice: “This post has been removed because the article’s original headline has been amended.”
The article’s headline was later altered to read: “Departure of Harvard’s Claudine Gay plays into campus culture wars.”
Gay said calls for the killing of Jews were abhorrent but that antisemitic comments would have to be assessed based on their context to see if they had violated Harvard's code of conduct.
The BBC soon deleted the post after a wave of backlash
PAHer comments prompted a widespread backlash and she later apologised in an interview with the university's student newspaper.
Gay later said in a statement: “There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students.
“Let me be clear: calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”
Following this, several allegations of plagiarism have resurfaced against Gay.
Harvard's board investigated the claims, however, and said that she did not violate “standards for research misconduct”.
Gay, Harvard’s first Black president, quit her job just six months and two days into the role.
