- Target:
- Ofcom UK Television Regulator
- Region:
- United Kingdom
Although the company Comparethemarket themselves withdrew the advertisements from around news bulletins, we hope Ofcom would remind any companies, or television stations doing this that is not a legitimate action to punish everyone and everything Russian in an attempt to show sensitivity about the Ukraine situation.
A legitimate reason for withdrawing an advert or programme would be if it depicted a warzone or Russian politicians involved in the war.
This sets a dangerous precedent. What happens if the news shows a story of a woman being attacked by a man? Are all men going to be banned from being shown on television around the news? Or if a terrible crime is committed by a person who belongs to a minority group. Are all persons of that group, and every association with that group, going to be banned?
There is also the wider impact this can have on the UK Russian community. There has been reported harassment of Russian people, and vandalised property, throughout the Western world recently. In Washington DC, USA, Canada, and in Ireland an 8 years old Estonian girl who speaks Russian was called "[effing] Russian" and told to "stop killing Ukranians".
This clearly shows the dangers of banning everything and everyone Russian, effectively blaming them for the present war.
We ask that Ofcom treat actions such as that taken on the Meerkat adverts as discriminatory, and that they do everything within their power to stop or discourage companies or television stations from using these discriminatory practices.
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