The BBC ignited a firestorm of criticism Tuesday after publishing a headline that labeled a conservative student beaten to death by a mob as a “far-right student,” while declining to apply equivalent ideological labels to the accused attackers.
French authorities charged nine far-left militants in connection with the fatal beating of Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old student, in Lyon, France, during a protest.
The BBC published the headline, “Nine arrested in France over death of far-right student,” prompting immediate and widespread backlash from conservatives across social media platforms.
Journalist Tommy Robinson responded sharply to the headline on social media. “FAR LEFT murder a young man! Fixed it for you,” Robinson wrote. “Defund the BBC!”
Avi Yemini of Rebel News also weighed in with pointed criticism. “The far left kill a student and you still 1. Refuse to call them what they are, and 2. Take one last swipe at their dead victim. This isn’t reporting. It’s narrative management. Defund the BBC,” Yemini wrote.
Josh Howie of GBN News offered his own assessment of the BBC’s coverage. “In ten words @BBCNews manages five examples of disinformation. Let me give it a go: Nine far-left thugs beat student to death for protecting women,” Howie stated.
The BBC article, authored by Hugh Schofield, described the incident as occurring during a protest held by so-called “far-right feminists” at the Institute of Political Studies in Lyon.
The nine suspects taken into custody are reportedly connected to a far-left militant organization known as La Jeune Garde, translated as “Young Guard,” according to the BBC’s own reporting.
Among those arrested was an individual identified as a parliamentary assistant affiliated with the far-left France Unbowed party, known in France as La France Insoumise, or LFI.
The backlash over the Deranque coverage is not the first time the BBC has faced accusations of editorial bias from conservative voices.
In 2024, the BBC aired a documentary that included an edited version of President Donald Trump’s speech delivered at the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021.
The network spliced together two separate portions of Trump’s speech in a manner that made it appear as though he had explicitly called on protesters to march to the United States Capitol.
The BBC issued an apology to Trump in November and informed him that the documentary would not be broadcast on any BBC platform again.
Trump subsequently filed a lawsuit against the network in December, accusing the BBC of attempting to interfere in the 2024 presidential election by misrepresenting his role in the events of Jan. 6.
Trump had previously put the BBC on notice, warning the network that legal action would follow unless it retracted the segment, issued an apology, and provided compensation.
Last year, a BBC News presenter made headlines during a live broadcast when she appeared to correct gender-neutral language while delivering a report about heat wave safety advice for vulnerable populations.
Martine Croxall was presenting a segment that included information from a heat-related study when she read the term “pregnant people” as part of the coverage.
Immediately following her reading of the gender-neutral phrase, Croxall added the word “women” with noticeable emphasis and what observers described as a slight eye roll.
