Ofcom wants broadcasters to lie about biology

Anyone labouring under the happy misapprehension that the trans debate is over may need to think again.

Ofcom, the UK media regulator, has called for broadcasters to continue to be balanced and impartial when discussing trans issues. Reportedly, it set out its position in a letter to GB News, which had sought to clarify what implications April’s Supreme Court judgment on gender might have for news channels. Of course, a call for ‘balance’ in this context is, in truth, a demand that broadcasters platform lies.

As the Telegraph reports, GB News wrote: ‘We would be grateful if Ofcom could confirm that in light of the Supreme Court judgment, it is now a settled matter that the terms “man”, “woman” and “sex” can only be understood to mean biological sex, biological woman and biological man, and, as a consequence, it is also a settled matter that a “trans woman” is not a biological female and a “trans man” is not a biological male.’

In response, Ofcom said that the trans debate should not be treated as ‘settled’. It also urged GB News and other broadcasters to continue using preferred pronouns for people who identify as trans. It even branded GB News’s view, that biological reality determines one’s sex, as ‘dogmatic’. Oh, the irony.

Wanting to encourage fair debate on television is one thing – but Ofcom’s demand that broadcasters air individuals who deny biological reality is quite another. Presumably, according to this logic, Ofcom should also demand airtime be given to Flat Earthers when discussing matters of geography? Or perhaps to those who believe all world leaders are actually humanoid reptilians when covering politics? You have to wonder whether Ofcom has an official ‘tipping point’ at which lies become mainstream enough to mean they have to be debated on telly.

Of course, none of this is to say that trans activists, following the Supreme Court ruling, should be banished from the airwaves. If nothing else, it would be sad to deprive ourselves of the amusement. But it’s something entirely different to demand that broadcasters platform them in all circumstances and even genuflect to their batty demands to use ‘preferred pronouns’. Ofcom is clearly setting out to shut down editorial freedom and to take sides in a debate, rather than open up the discussion.

Indeed, what the GB News / Ofcom exchange reveals above all is that the UK broadcast regulator is a captured institution. It is attempting to launder an absurd ideological claim – that men can become women through self-declaration alone – through appeals to impartiality and balance.

Facts may be out of fashion at Ofcom, but perhaps we needn’t worry too much. The vast majority of TV viewers know what a woman is and are not going to believe otherwise, no matter how much airtime is given to the ravings of trans activists.

Georgina Mumford is a spiked intern.