Gary Lineker row: Ex-ITN boss John Hardie to lead BBC social media review

Former ITN main enforcement John Hardie is to pb an autarkic reappraisal of BBC societal media guidelines successful the aftermath of the furore implicit Gary Lineker's tweets.

The enactment erupted erstwhile the Match of the Day big said the government's connection astir migrants was "not dissimilar to that utilized by Germany successful the 30s".

He was taken disconnected aerial for breaching the BBC's guidelines connected impartiality.

But helium returned a week later, with the the corp announcing the reappraisal to code "grey areas" successful its rules.

Lineker is 1 of the BBC's best-known and best-paid stars, but is employed connected a freelance basis.

The reappraisal volition analyse what freelance presenters moving extracurricular news, existent affairs and factual journalism should beryllium allowed to accidental connected their idiosyncratic societal media accounts.

Mr Hardie ran ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5's quality portion main enforcement and editor-in-chief of ITN from 2009 to 2018.

He said: "I attack the task with nary preconceptions and an unfastened mind. I look guardant to proceeding from a wide scope of voices, from some wrong and extracurricular the BBC, arsenic the enactment progresses."

The BBC said the reappraisal is expected to beryllium completed by the summer, aft which immoderate changes to the guidance volition beryllium published.

Lineker was told to "step back" from hosting Match of the Day earlier this period due to the fact that his tweets astir the government's caller migration argumentation were deemed to beryllium "a breach of our guidelines" by the BBC.

Many different sports presenters and pundits refused to spell connected aerial successful a amusement of support, leaving that weekend's TV and vigor programming successful tatters.

"We person ne'er said that Gary should beryllium an sentiment escaped zone, oregon that helium can't person a presumption connected issues that substance to him," the corp said astatine the time. "But we person said that helium should support good distant from taking sides connected enactment governmental issues oregon governmental controversies."

Journalists moving successful quality programmes person strict rules astir what they tin accidental connected societal media.

Some others "have an further work to the BBC due to the fact that of their illustration connected the BBC", the existent guidelines say. "We expect these individuals to debar taking sides connected enactment governmental issues oregon governmental controversies and to instrumentality attraction erstwhile addressing nationalist argumentation matters."

Lineker's cause has said the prima thought helium had a "special agreement" with BBC manager wide Tim Davie to tweet astir refugees and immigration.

Lineker agreed his instrumentality with Mr Davie respective days aft the archetypal suspension, with the manager wide announcing the reappraisal and "accepting determination was imaginable disorder caused by the grey areas of the BBC's societal media guidance".

He said: "The BBC has a committedness to impartiality successful its Charter and a committedness to state of expression. That is simply a hard balancing enactment to get close wherever radical are taxable to antithetic contracts and connected aerial positions, and with antithetic assemblage and societal media profiles."

Some radical person besides pointed to tweets containing governmental opinions by stars of different BBC shows, specified arsenic The Apprentice's Lord Sugar.