British Broadcasting Association

The complainant requested information from the BBC about policies, guidance, forms, or other documentation used to identify hateful comments. The BBC responded that the requested information was covered by the derogation and hence excluded from the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the information was held by the BBC for the purposes of journalism, art or literature and so was not covered by the FOIA. He therefore upholds the BBC’s position and requires no remedial steps to be taken in this case.