When a New York author was given the opportunity by BBC to give a lecture, he was surprised to find an opinion he gave, and a mild one at that, was going to be completely missing. The major broadcast corporation had censored his words, to which he tells all in a TikTok video he shared. And all it took was his criticism of President Trump to experience blatant and obvious censorship.
Author Rutger Bregman was invited by BBC to give a lecture at BBC Radio Theatre in front of 500 people. During the speech, Rutget had criticized President Trump and stated he was “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” But when the series was aired, that opinion was completely removed. Apparently, a bunch of BBC higher-ups and U.S. attorneys made the decision to remove it. This occurred long after the lecture was taken through the editorial process.
President Trump recently threatened to sue BBC for millions of dollars after they spliced together his speech from 2021. Though BBC profusely apologized to Trump and his attorneys, they refused to pay up. As Rutger states, “Self-censorship driven by fear should concern all of us.”
What upset Rutger the most is the fact Reith Lectures, who he gave the speech to, is an “important platform for open debate and free expression.” In his TikTok video, Rutger finds it difficult to express his shock and concern but hopes “transparency helps strengthen, not weaken, our democratic culture.”
He also comments on the fact institutions shouldn’t bow down and “start censoring themselves because they’re scared of those in power,” which is especially true of lobbyists in the U.S.
“People cannot speak the truth under Trump’s administration,” one commenter argued.
“Bullies will continue to bully when you give them what they want. The only way to stop Trump bullying is for all of us to let go of fear and speak truth to power. Networks, publishers, lawyers, judges need to step up boldly to fight this battle,” another commenter suggested. Not to mention politicians as well. It’s a fight that starts from the top and everybody has to participate for their words to be heard. If not, you live in fear.
