§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the policy relating to broadcasts in the UK of statements by al-Qaeda through the al-Jazeera network. [8275]
§ Tessa JowellAl-Jazeera is a Qatar-based broadcaster licensed by the French authorities for transmission within the European Union. I understand that it is the only TV broadcaster allowed by the Taliban to operate on a permanent basis out of Afghanistan. We have urged broadcasters to be cautious in their use of material from Afghanistan and to ensure that viewers are aware of the source of material and how reliable it might be.
Under the Television Without Frontiers Directive, 89/552/EEC, as amended by 97/36/EC,
Member states shall ensure that broadcasts do not contain any incitement to hatred on grounds of race, sex, religion or nationality".It is open to the UK Government, on the advice of the ITC, to proscribe a television broadcaster which broadcasts from another member state, where the broadcasts contain material which manifestly, seriously and gravely infringes this prohibition, on at least two occasions in a twelve month period. The ITC's monitoring of al-Jazeera has not led it to conclude that proscription would be justified. UK established broadcasters must comply with obligations to maintain due impartiality and accuracy in their reporting of news and current affairs.Broadcasters must apply their own judgment to the context of the al-Qaeda videos.