14/7/22: IPSO has instructed the Jewish Chronicle to publish a correction after it claimed without evidence that a man lost his job for being an anti-Semite.
The complaint centred on a July 2021 opinion article titled “Time for direct action on social media”. In it, former JC editor Stephen Pollard recounted an experience complaining to a Twitter critic’s employer over what he characterised as anti-Semitic tweets. Following the complaint, the Twitter user, Tom Gauterin, departed his job, leading Pollard to concluded Gauterin “suffered the consequences of his bigotry”.
Gauterin raised a complaint with IPSO, disputing the allegation he was an anti-Semite and saying that while his termination had indeed been linked to concerns over his Twitter activity, he had not been made aware of allegations that activity was anti-Semitic.
IPSO said that Pollard’s characterisation of the tweets as anti-Semitic, because it was clearly distinguished as opinion, did not breach accuracy standards. However, the regulator said that Pollard’s conjecture Gauterin had lost his job over the anti-Semitism complaint had been misleadingly presented as fact.
To this end, IPSO said the Jewish Chronicle had breached standards regarding the separation of fact and opinion, and required a correction below the original article. Another portion of Gauterin’s complaint, alleging his privacy had been breached by Pollard contacting his employer, was not upheld. Full ruling here.
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