Virgin Fined £75,000 For Swearing Child Incident

Virgin Radio has been issued with a £75,000 fine by the Radio Authority for what is described as a “major failure of compliance which led to a serious breach of the rules on taste, decency and offence to public feeling”, namely encouraging a nine-year-old girl to repeat a sexually explicit phrase over the airwaves.

The broadcast in question, an on-air competition, took place close to midnight on January 18 this year. The child had rung in to take part in a game called “Swear Word Hangman”, in which callers guessed the letters of a sexually explicit phrase containing swear words.

The Radio Authority described the resulting programme as “highly offensive and inappropriate even in the context of adult alternative comedy.” The Authority noted that Virgin, to its credit, did not try to excuse what had happened and claims to have taken steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

In a statement today, the Radio Authority pointed out that its members were “fully aware that attitudes amongst adults about programmes by and for adults, towards what constitutes indecency and offence have changed markedly over recent years”, but said that when children were involved, the Authority would use all its powers to preserve clear standards of acceptability.

Radio Authority: 020 7430 2724 www.radioauthority.org.uk

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