GB News broke rules over Covid jab claims - Ofcom

A GB News programme which broadcast claims that the Covid-19 vaccination programme amounted to "mass murder" has been found to have broken Ofcom rules.

The claims were made in an interview with Naomi Wolf on a show hosted by Mark Steyn last October.

Ofcom launched an investigation after receiving 422 complaints about the comments.

It found that the broadcaster did not do enough to protect viewers from potentially harmful content.

The ruling follows a similar breach in April last year. Ofcom has asked GB News to attend a meeting on the matter.

GB News has been approached for comment.

Ms Wolf, a journalist and author, was interviewed about the roll-out of the Covid vaccine during Mr Steyn's hour-long programme on the news channel.

She claimed the vaccination programme amounted to "mass murder" and was comparable to the actions of "doctors in pre-Nazi Germany".

Ofcom said her claims "amounted to the promotion of a serious, unchallenged conspiracy theory which was presented with authority".

It was "particularly concerned" by her "serious and alarming claim" that "mass murder" was taking place - something she repeated three times.

"These claims had the potential to impact on viewers' decisions about their health and were therefore potentially harmful," the Ofcom report said.

"[GB News] should have ensured that Naomi Wolf's potentially harmful comments were challenged or otherwise contextualised to provide adequate protection for the audience, which they were not."

Mr Steyn left GB News earlier this year, claiming the channel wanted to make him personally liable for Ofcom fines.

In March the regulator found that an earlier Mark Steyn show, which aired on April 21 2022, broke broadcasting rules and was "potentially harmful and materially misleading".

It used an "incorrect claim" that UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data provided evidence of a "definitive causal link" between a third Covid-19 vaccine and higher rates of infection, death and people being admitted to hospital.