Written evidence submitted by Ms Julia Harris at BBC World Service (UKI0019)

Introduction

The BBC’s global news services (including the World Service, BBC World News and BBC.com) are available online, via radio and television reaching 394m people around the world every week across 43 languages. 

BBC World Service has a distinguished history of broadcasting in Persian to Iran over many years - this year marks the service’s 80th anniversary.  Independent research shows that the BBC’s Persian-speaking audiences regard it as one of the most trusted, impartial and objective international news providers in the Persian-speaking world, with an established reputation for quality and a weekly  audience of over 20 million. It is one of the BBC’s most strategically important language services and the second largest after Arabic in terms of staff numbers.

This submission to the Committee’s Iran inquiry aims to highlight BBC Persian’s important role in connecting with the people of Iran through its news provision and wider programming which is editorially independent from the UK government, and the acute challenges it faces as a result of intense state-backed harassment of London-based staff through the Iranian courts, targeted online abuse and attempts by Iran to undermine trust and block access to its output.

Context

All broadcasting within Iran is controlled by the state and reflects official ideology, although there is a wider range of opinions available online and in the press.  Journalists are constantly exposed to intimidation, arbitrary arrest and long jail sentences.  Despite a ban on using satellite equipment, foreign TV channels are widely watched and the authorities have not succeeded in their efforts to restrict it.

Against this context, BBC Persian broadcasts from London to Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan and the Persian speaking international diaspora with a bureau in Kabul and Dushanbe and has its own correspondents based in Washington, New York, and some key locations in the region.  It also draws upon BBC correspondents in 75 news bureaux around the world. 

BBC Persian began as a radio service in December 1940, launched its website in 1996 (blocked by Iranian authorities since 2006) and a TV channel in 2009. Social platforms have been added to the portfolio as they have come onto the market.  BBC Persian TV set new standards in Persian-language television in Iran and provided improved access to public debate.  Since its launch the channel has been subject to jamming on occasions and BBC Persian journalists and their families have suffered ongoing harassment by the Iranian authorities.

BBC News Persian TV broadcasts 24/7 with a mixed schedule of live news and current affairs, debates and a range of originally created feature programmes.  These include documentaries made for the Persian speaking audience and shared across the BBC’s domestic and international platforms.  The Service also produces original strands on health, science and technology, arts and culture and music and provides a showcase for the very best of Iranian and Afghan documentary-making. A daily visual radio programme for the early morning market forms part of the TV schedule. 

BBCpersian.com complements TV and radio by providing rolling news and in-depth context and analysis reflecting a wide range of viewpoints across the political spectrum.  BBC Persian social media platforms provide a unique opportunity to interact directly with a diverse audience of millions from across Iran, giving a voice to the unheard and helping BBC Persian gather news and information in the absence of its reporters inside Iran.  It also helps the Persian Service to stay in tune with the needs and taste of its audience.

BBC Persian – bringing benefit to the UK

As stated in the Licence[1] agreed by the BBC Board the World Service’s remit is to ‘to address the global gap in the provision of trusted international news, by providing accurate, impartial and independent news and programming of the highest quality’. It also states that in doing so the World Service should ‘aim to provide journalism that contributes to accountability and good governance to improve the welfare and economic development of citizens in developing countries.’

The World Service contributes to the BBC’s 5th Public Purpose[2] - to reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world.  This states that the BBC ‘should provide high-quality news coverage to international audiences, firmly based on British values of accuracy, impartiality, and fairness. … aiding understanding of the UK as a whole, including its nations and regions where appropriate.

Through its provision of trusted news and information and wider programming reflecting British culture and values over many years BBC Persian has enabled greater understanding of the UK amongst the Iranian people through non-government means.  For example, many Persian TV acquired programmes are rooted in British culture and traditions:

• Live at Glastonbury reflects the listening trends of young people in the UK and gives an insight into the experience of festivals.
• English language teaching series Word on the Street looks at the use of colloquial English in everyday situations in the UK. 
• Different Like Me looks at changing British attitudes to disability through personal stories with warmth and humour
• Life Swap Adventure closely follows British individuals as they 'temporarily swap' their own life with someone living in a different country. 
• The establishment has been analysed in: Inside the Commons which took viewers inside the heart of British democracy; The Coronation which included a rare interview with the Queen about the institution of the monarchy; and Harry and Meghan: Truly Madly Deeply which looked at more contemporary royals and their role in British society. 
• Children’s strand Big Ones Little Ones shows programmes watched by children in the UK  that explore themes like exercise, cooking and their relationships with animals.

The channel also tackles contemporary and often controversial social issues including grief, ageing, fertility, body image, religion and fashion - all seen through the prism of contemporary British society and values.  Documentaries cover taboo topics not generally aired in Iran in an even-handed way. For example, in the series China's New World Order, the Chinese can be seen as both successful and exploitative.  In Muslims Like Us, British Muslims discuss their Islamic faith, including issues such as whether you can be Muslim and gay.   BBC Persian TV has run history programmes about the Holocaust and a film about Israeli football players - subjects that would never appear in the Iranian media.  Many documentaries are presented by women, who appear on an equal footing with men.  Documentary series such as Extraordinary Women and The Ascent of Women are entirely devoted to women and their achievements. 

On Iran, BBC Persian was the first channel to expose Iranian activities in Syria in Iran's Secret Army at a time when the Iranians were denying operating inside the country.  In Dying for a Better Life the Service’s reporter went undercover to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea to show the fate of thousands of Iranians trying to reach Australia.  Revolutionary Justice looked at the Iranian revolutionary courts through the story of the persecution of The Baha'is.  In a recent 3 part series about the former foreign minister Sadegh Ghobtzadeh, BBC Persian examined the life and legacy of a man regarded only as a traitor by the Iranian authorities. And in its most recent investigation the Service assembled compelling evidence about the mysterious murders of Iranian opposition figures in Europe.

Audience appreciation of BBC Persian was demonstrated following the launch of Persian TV in January 2009 when initial reactions from viewers and in the Iranian press were overwhelmingly positive.  This was despite a warning from Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Gholamhoseyn Mohseni-Ezhe'I, who hours before the launch of the channel said, “We do not consider this network as suitable for the security of the country and will take the necessary measures with regards to it.”  Ever since then various measures to curtail the channel have been introduced by Iran.  Following initial efforts at satellite jamming, the harassment and intimidation of BBC Persian staff and their families was stepped up.

Despite challenges from the Iranian authorities, the channel has continued to have a powerful role and impact on Iranian society. It has also influenced the Iranian state broadcaster who started to copy the style of BBC Persian programmes and use of graphics soon after BBC Persian TV launched.

BBC Persian – connecting with its audience in Iran

With a strictly government controlled state media the audience in Iran looks to Persian media broadcasting extra-territorially for independent trustworthy perspectives and analysis. 

Despite severe restrictions on internet access, BBC Persian engages with audiences in the region on a wide range of digital platforms, sharing their eyewitness accounts, experiences and opinions on matters of policy and current affairs, to amplify their voice for the largest audiences possible. Audiences engage in informed debates on topics more often neglected or curbed by local government-controlled media.  For example, Let’s Talk is a series of visual talking points on Instagram specifically targeting women in the region which sets up debates by providing data and stats on issues affecting and reflecting their views and lives.  BBC Persian’s strong cross platform presence allows it to bring these conversations to wider audiences.

The connection with audiences remains even when internet communications are severely restricted; as an example, during last November‘s protests when a total internet blackout was imposed by the Iranian government, BBC Persian resorted to more old-fashioned means of communications through phone calls and messages. With its extensive reliable contacts across all provinces in Iran built up over many years, it managed to give a platform to voices which were firmly suppressed, and through eyewitness accounts, retold the stories which the Iranian government has been trying to withhold and obscure.

The latest global audience data shows that the Service has a worldwide weekly audience of 20.8 million.  In Iran, although accurate data is challenging to collate on certain platforms, 10.8 million Iranians consume BBC Persian content weekly. 

At times of breaking news anecdotal and audience data show the valued relationship with the audience in Iran.  Examples include:

• Social unrest in Iran – during the unrest in November 2019, when the authorities shut down access to the internet, BBC Persian TV/radio was one of the few sources of information still accessible.  Following this coverage BBC Persian received the following audience feedback:

I’m from Hamedan and access to the internet, Telegram, WhatsApp and Instagram has just been reinstated. Thanks to you and your colleagues, we managed to follow the latest news from Iran through BBC Persian TV.

Well done to you for being present in this period, and for broadcasting the true news. We went through lots of hoops to receive your programmes without the disturbance of jamming.

I am hugely grateful to BBC for their news coverage.

It can pass without all, but not without the BBC.

A thank you to the BBC that got the news to us during this time.

• General Soleimani’s assassination - at the peak of its coverage BBC Persian’s digital platforms reached an audience of 12 million.  7.6 million interacted with its posts on Instagram and 1.2 million came to the website via search. 

• COVID 19 - BBC Persian introduced special programming on the spread of the virus in Iran. At a time when there was a large amount of misinformation circulating on mainstream media and social media inside the country, BBC Persian offered the audience the opportunity to directly ask questions of credible health specialists. In the last week of February 2020 nearly one million came to the website via search which is almost triple the number for the same week in 2019 and in the last week of March, 10.5 million users engaged with comments, likes and shares on BBC Persian social platforms.

Exclusive user generated content (UGC) videos from patients and doctors shared before the Iranian government responded to the pandemic were among the most watched videos. A video of a suspected Coronavirus patient falling in the street and being taken to hospital was watched more than 4.2m times.  Feedback received indicates the audiences’ appreciation of the coverage:

Your Corona programme is brilliant and helps everyone to avoid doing wrong remedies and it also helps to control spreading the disease.

Thank you very much for your programme. It is very educational. 

You are doing a great job by giving fair and subtle information.

Challenges

BBC Persian harassment

The incidents of harassment against BBC Persian staff, their families or those accused of having links with them have been constant since 2009; the 2017 asset freeze remains and the criminal investigation into staff is ongoing.

As described in BBC World Service evidence submitted to the Committee’s Human Rights inquiry in 2018 and its Media Freedom inquiry in 2019 the harassment takes various forms: arrest; detention; questioning; threats that jobs or pensions will be lost; confiscation of passports; and the spread of fake and defamatory news stories designed to undermine the reputation of staff and their families. 

In July 2017, the Iranian government started criminal investigations into the activities of journalists and other staff working for BBC Persian, alleging their work constituted a crime against Iran’s national security. In tandem, the Iranian authorities brought an injunction to freeze the assets of 152 named individuals preventing them from buying, selling or inheriting property in Iran. 

The names on that list have fluctuated somewhat in the past two years, with some people removed from the list (often when they have stopped working for BBC Persian) and some new names added, but the injunction remains in place.

The impact of these measures upon BBC Persian staff has been extremely grave and worryingly the intimidation tactics have intensified recently and coincide with a ratcheting up of the attacks upon other international broadcasters.  It is now clear that other broadcasters have recently had family members interrogated in similar ways.

In November 2019 during the unrest across Iran staff reported a significant increase in the number of incidents of family members being brought in for interrogation in Iran and given a clear message that their relatives should stop working for BBC Persian. Testimonies from staff showed the interrogation approach and technique has become more frightening and aggressive.

The escalation of harassment in November was the subject of a further urgent appeal to the United Nations filed with three Special Procedures mandate-holders: the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, and the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. It was submitted as a complaint on behalf of all BBC Persian Service staff concerning the spike in harassment and serious threats made coinciding with the period of unrest.[3]

In early 2020 there have been further very serious threats made to BBC Persian journalists, including death threats. Journalist, Rana Rahimpour, received a message threatening that she would be assassinated within a month. The message also says that she will be the first employee of the BBC to be killed, and, after her assassination, it will be the turn of the rest of the BBC Persian employees. The sender claims to be closer to Rana Rahimpour than she’s aware of, and says she should think about her children.

BBC Persian staff have been under systematic attacks online and in different domestic media outlets since 2009, and many of those targeted in this way have been female journalists.  The attacks are part of a range of measures intended to silence and intimidate the journalists and deter them from their work as highlighted by the Committee in its Global Media Freedom report.

One of the main techniques has been to generate false information which is widely circulated online and in Iranian domestic and state-controlled media, aided by the manipulation of search engines, so that it can be very difficult to separate facts from fakes. This false information includes defamatory stories and fake images, often specifically focusing on discrediting female members of BBC Persian staff among their friends and family – and the broader public – in Iran by accusing them of sexual indecencies.

There are many examples which have been collated and included in an urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, one example is as follows:

For a period of a year, a weblog published a series of fake stories about a BBC Persian presenter, which included that she had been raped by a male presenter colleague (also known to Iranian audiences) with a photo blog where she was shown as holding her “illegitimate child”. Later, her father was brought in for interrogation by the authorities and convinced by the interrogators that she had given birth to that child and hidden it from her family because she was embarrassed of having been raped by a colleague.

Another member of staff who is a constant target online and on social media was targeted by a troll-like account in January this year.  The first tweet reveals her family-home address in Tehran where her mother and her sister live and encourages the Iranian authorities to confiscate this property in Iran.  This constant harassment can have a devastating effect on well-being.

The BBC Persian service appeared at the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in March following which, in an unprecedented act of support, four United Nations Special Rapporteurs released a joint statement[4] condemning the Iranian authorities for their continuing actions towards BBC Persian journalists and their families. 

The BBC has also been undertaking advocacy work with MEPs and various groups at the European Parliament with the support of the International Federation of Journalists since the escalation of harassment.  In March 2019 the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution criticising Iran’s treatment of human rights defenders, human rights lawyers and journalists.[5]  Concerns have also been raised with the European Union External Action Service and members of relevant committees.  We continue to ask that MEPs across member countries take action to ensure that the plight of BBC Persian Service staff and their families is raised within the European Parliament.

Attempts to undermine trust

Meanwhile, attempts to undermine trust in BBC Persian through accusations in the Iranian media that cast doubt on BBC Persian’s independence from the UK government continue.  After the recent unrest in Iran an Iranian newspaper accused BBC Persian TV of waging a ‘war’ against Tehran and wanting to overthrow the Iranian ruling establishment by exaggerating reports of the protests and arrests, referring to BBC Persian as the ‘media outlet of the British royal family’[6] as reported by BBC Monitoring.

Fars News Agency, affiliated with the IRGC, was quoted as saying ‘Following the false claim by the government-run British Broadcasting Corporation on the arrest of some members of Basij in Tehran Province, Fars followed up the issue through four sources - the judiciary, the Intelligence Ministry, the Law Enforcement Force, and the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC]. All four sources denied the report.’[7]  The news agency made similar accusations against other international media organisations.

The Iranian Ambassador subsequently filed a complaint about BBC Persian with Ofcom following a Persian TV interview with New York Times journalist, Farnaz Fassihi, which the Ambassador claimed showed that both Fassihi and the channel were ‘engaging in a project of economic terrorism’ in their reporting[8].

Internet and satellite interference

All BBC websites including BBC Persian have been blocked rigorously in Iran since 2006 and access is permitted only through proxies or internet circumvention applications. The blocking of BBC sites has been consistent and appears to be comprehensive across the country.

A user trying to access online BBC services will be directed to a government-affiliated directory website, without providing a reason or a government notice as to why the BBC website is inaccessible.

To mitigate this situation, the World Service uses a number of technical solutions to circumvent the blocking. These include the procurement of services of a Canada-based circumvention tool called Psiphon Inc, which serves BBC content on computers, tablets and mobile phones in Iran, and use of the Tor Network with a dedicated “Onion” service which is difficult to block and provides users in Iran with a high degree of safety while consuming online BBC content.  The BBC Persian online team also uses messaging apps and social media networks, such as Telegram and Instagram, to deliver online content in a way that can reach a large part of the population.

The recent rise in internet shutdown incidents in Iran, especially last year during the unrest, does offset the adopted circumvention solutions as access to the whole internet becomes curtailed. To address this, the BBC is currently building a partnership with a US-based group that provides web content using satellite signals, which are not affected by internet shutdowns.

Since the launch of BBC Persian TV all its satellite services have been subject to deliberate and illegal interference from within Iran. In response, the BBC increased the number of satellites carrying the channel, and technical changes were made to help reduce jamming.  The BBC and other international broadcasters also called on governments and international regulatory bodies to put maximum pressure on Iran to desist in the censorship.  The issue was recognised at the highest level at the ITU where radio regulations were revised to strengthen existing text around responsibility. 

The BBC continues to receive anecdotal reports that terrestrial jamming of satellite services occurs from time to time in major population centres. Aside from transmitting BBC Persian TV from three different satellites (each of which appears at a different position in the sky), there is no other recourse to counter this jamming.

Access to Iran

BBC Persian has no physical presence in Iran and the Iranian authorities prevent news agencies who operate in Iran from supplying video to the Persian Service. In its reporting on Iran it relies on its correspondents in neighbouring countries and information and UGC received from contacts and social media users in Iran.  BBC News teams are occasionally granted visas for specific programmes but access is limited.

Conclusion

Audience feedback received following the recent unrest in Iran and during the current Coronavirus crisis clearly demonstrates the value of BBC Persian in its provision of impartial, accurate news and information to Iran.  The resulting connection between the audience and the BBC facilitates an important link between the UK and the people of Iran.

However, the harassment of its staff and their families by the Iranian authorities has intensified, and widened to other international broadcasters, despite efforts by the BBC, working with Doughty Street Chambers and the NUJ, to raise the issue at the highest levels.  The Iranian authorities have made it clear that the harassment of staff and families, criminal charges and asset freezing will stop if Persian staff leave the BBC – this is a clear attempt to interfere with the ability of BBC Persian to continue to offer independent journalism to audiences in Iran.

Bilateral and multi-lateral support at the UNHRC on BBC Persian harassment should continue to be a UK priority and feature prominently as part of the Government’s global media freedom campaign. 

April 2020