A comprehensive two-year study reveals that GB News accounted for half of the UK’s news coverage on Muslims and Islam, much of it negative, raising concerns about the potential to fuel community tensions and contribute to civil unrest, according to researchers.
The research, conducted by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CFMM), highlights structural and systemic bias in GB News’ reporting on British Muslims. The study, which covers 54 pages, describes the network’s focus on Muslims as “excessive” and bordering on an “obsession,” regularly demonizing their beliefs.
The report finds that stories about Islam are “overwhelmingly negative” and fail to reflect the diversity within UK Muslim communities. It warns that such consistently hostile reporting could incite violence and discrimination against Muslims and may have contributed to the toxic atmosphere surrounding last summer’s riots.
The analysis further states that GB News “rarely features Muslim perspectives,” often neglecting to challenge Islamophobic comments and portraying Muslims as a “Trojan horse” trying to undermine British values.
When compared with mainstream channels like BBC News and Sky News, the study found that GB News’ coverage of Muslims and Islam was more negative and unbalanced. The report concludes that GB News shows a clear bias against Islam and Muslims, urging the regulator, Ofcom, to take stronger action against biased content that misleads viewers, divides communities, and may encourage violence.
Over two years, GB News mentioned Muslims or Islam more than 17,000 times, making up nearly half of all such mentions across UK news channels. In comparison, BBC News and Sky News accounted for 32% and 21%, respectively. Islamophobia was mentioned on GB News 1,180 times, or 60% of all mentions compared to BBC News and Sky News.
Despite this, GB News often downplayed real instances of anti-Muslim hatred and framed Muslims as perpetrators rather than victims of violence. During the summer riots, GB News was responsible for 62% of all clips associating Muslims with the violence, three times more than BBC News or Sky News. The channel repeatedly portrayed Muslims as perpetrators, downplaying attacks on mosques and Muslim communities, thus reinforcing a biased narrative.
Commenting on the report, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi expressed shock at the “excessive” nature of GB News’ reporting on Muslim communities, emphasizing that such consistent stereotyping and stigmatization posed a real danger. She warned that the portrayal of British Muslims as the “enemy” had real-life consequences, contributing to the rise in anti-Muslim hate and far-right radicalization. Warsi called for decisive action from both the regulator and the government to prevent broadcasting platforms from fueling extremism and violence.
Stewart Purvis, a former ITN Executive and Ofcom Regulator, added that the report challenges Ofcom to consider whether its deregulated model for broadcast news has unintended consequences. He questioned whether a broadcaster should be allowed to build its audience by consistently portraying an ethnic community negatively.
Rizwana Hamid, Director of the Centre for Media Monitoring, noted that before GB News emerged, the focus was on the misrepresentation of Muslims in print and online media. However, the volume of anti-Muslim rhetoric on GB News and Ofcom’s reluctance to regulate this content has allowed politicians and commentators to malign Muslims and Islam unchecked. She stressed that a strong regulator should enforce established codes for broadcasters and demand impartiality in reporting.
In response, a GB News spokesperson told The Guardian that the report was “inaccurate and defamatory” and an attempt to silence free speech. They defended the channel’s existence, claiming it is succeeding because of its approach and expressed concern that the Muslim Council of Britain did not contact GB News or its presenters for comment on the allegations.
