Trump Sues BBC for $1 Billion

The Daily Mail reported that U.S. President Trump stated he would sue BBC over its "malicious editing" of his speech and demand $1 billion in compensation. Trump also said that BBC was "bad for democracy" and that the incident revealed "corrupt journalists." The report revealed that Trump's legal team had asked BBC to apologize, issue a retraction of the content, and pay compensation by 10 p.m. on Friday this week, otherwise legal action would be taken against BBC for damages of $1 billion (approximately 750 million pounds).

The Daily Telegraph also revealed that Trump's legal team sent a letter to BBC on Sunday. The letter clearly stated that if BBC did not meet all of Trump's demands before the deadline, Trump would take legal action against BBC for "significant financial and reputational losses." However, the report pointed out that under British defamation law, the statute of limitations for a defamed person is one year, and since the BBC documentary was aired more than a year ago, Trump will not be able to sue in the UK. Therefore, Trump's legal team has stated that the lawsuit will be filed in Florida, USA, as the statute of limitations for defamation lawsuits in Florida is two years.

The Financial Times also claimed to have obtained the letter written by Trump's legal team to BBC, which required BBC to apologize to Trump and compensate for the harm caused. BBC has also stated that it will respond to the content of the letter at an appropriate time. The report noted that Trump has previously taken legal action against other media outlets. Last year, Paramount Pictures and ABC (American Broadcasting Company) agreed to pay $16 million and $15 million respectively to settle defamation lawsuits filed by Trump against the two companies. Before threatening to sue BBC, BBC's chairman Samir Shah admitted that BBC made a "judgment error" when editing Trump's speech, and it indeed gave the impression that Trump directly urged his supporters to take violent actions. However, Shah also criticized whistleblower Prescott, saying that the latter's allegations did not present the "full picture" of BBC's editorial decision-making process. UK Prime Minister Starmer said yesterday that he did not believe BBC had "systemic bias issues." However, UK Reform Party leader Farage said that he had spoken to Trump last Friday and knew that Trump was very upset about the matter. Farage himself also believed that BBC's actions caused significant damage to Trump.

The i newspaper reported that after the BBC "maliciously edited" Trump's speech, the main source of revenue for BBC - the television license fee - has faced a crisis. The report stated that the Labour government in the UK is considering alternatives to replace the current television license fee. Farage, the leader of the UK Reform Party, also stated that if he were to come to power, he would cancel the BBC's television license fee and instead adopt a subscription model similar to Netflix.

The Guardian reported that a BBC council member who is closely associated with the opposition Conservative Party has become a major voice criticizing the BBC management. The report revealed that this council member is Gibb, who was recruited into the BBC board during the tenure of Conservative Prime Minister Johnson. The report stated that because Gibb strongly criticized the BBC management during meetings of the BBC board, it led to the sudden resignation of BBC Director David and BBC News CEO Tenes. Today, Liberal Democrat leader Dave wrote an article in the newspaper stating that Gibb should be removed from the BBC board before starting to look for the next BBC director.

The Times reported that several senior BBC journalists have publicly defended BBC. The presenter of the BBC Radio 4 program "Today," Robinson, spoke extensively about the incident at the beginning of the program yesterday and subsequently shared it on social media. He described what is currently happening as "political interference" and "part of an hostile takeover of BBC." He also pointed out that BBC board member Gibb once served as the communications chief in the office of the Conservative Prime Minister and also acted as an editorial advisor for the right-leaning British GB News television news channel. Now, he is vigorously criticizing BBC for having "systemic bias issues." As for another senior BBC journalist, Simpson, also stated that David was one of the best directors of BBC, and Tenes was an excellent news executive. Therefore, their departure will only make enemies of BBC happy.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848445657159680/

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