An investigation found that the educational website, accessed by millions of pupils, has been promoting increased migration.
The BBC has been criticised for pushing Left-wing ideas on their Bitesize website (Image: Getty)
The BBC has been criticised for “brainwashing” students after an investigation found that its educational website, BBC Bitesize, is promoting “extreme” left-wing views to millions of users. The website, launched in 1998, is recommended as an educational tool by most state schools across the UK, with nearly 1.7 million pupils accessing the platform every week. However, following a review to its material for pre-GSCE secondary school pupils, the Mail on Sunday discovered that the platform has been pushing specific views on migration, including through a game called Increasing Immigration, which rewards players for granting migrants amnesty.
The instructions stated: “We don’t have enough people of working age to keep our society running smoothly. We should try to attract migrant workers and incorporate them into our economy.”
Each option comes with a budget “cost” and once they have chosen, they find out the impacts on the economy, public health and the environment. In one scenario, students are told that “a few” immigrants are living here without proper visas or permission, and they can either deport them or grant them an amnesty.
Those who choose deportation lose a point on economy and one on public health. They are also warned: “This can be potentially dangerous for them [the immigrants]. Don’t expect this to be unchallenged!”
Those who pick to grant an amnesty are told “this will make them very happy,” and are rewarded with two points in the same categories.
In a second scenario, geography pupils are told that allowing people to pass through the border easily “could really help grow our economy”. They are offered the option of “open borders,” resulting in another three economy points and two public health ones, in contrast to voting no points for selecting the “too radical” option.
Danny Cohen, a former controller of BBC television, called for an urgent investigation into the findings. “The BBC needs to explain why its educational website is pushing extreme Left-wing ideologies to schoolchildren,” he said. “There is such a lack of balance in so many areas of the BBC’s output that it cannot be seriously defended as coincidental.”
Former Tory Education Secretary Gavin Williamson MP said: “The mask has slipped and the BBC has yet again betrayed its rampant Left-wing political agenda. The state broadcaster brainwashing children using a homework game is like something from a North Korean re-education camp.”
Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott has demanded that the BBC remove the game from its website, adding that it has a “duty to remain impartial” rather than to “push a Left-wing political agenda onto young children”.
The website appears to list twice as many benefits to migration compared to the disadvantages. It also has material that promotes a world without borders. A video for Welsh geography students states: “As technology evolves… the question remains: can we learn to live with globalisation? And with it, fulfil the promise of a truly borderless world.”
Alex Burghart, Shadow Cabinet Office Secretary, said: “The BBC was set up to inform, educate and entertain – not misinform, re-educate and brainwash.”
A BBC spokesman said: “BBC Bitesize works with educational consultants to develop resources that help young people explore and understand a wide range of topics, aligned to the respective curriculums across the UK.
‘While we don’t accept the characterisation of Bitesize in this story, we regularly review content to ensure it remains relevant and to ensure it meets the BBC’s editorial standards and will review these examples in that context.”