Transparency
A BBC researcher should normally use a BBC address when they are searching for material or contributors online. This will make it clear that they are acting on behalf of the BBC. However, there may be some occasions when it may not be appropriate to let other people know that they are from the BBC. The BBC Editorial Guidelines apply to the Internet on this issue as elsewhere. See Section 5: Deception and Section 7: Investigations into crime and antisocial behaviour.
Researchers should only hide their identity:
- where there is a clear public interest
- when dealing with serious illegal or antisocial activity.
Any deception should be the minimum necessary in proportion to the subject matter and will require approval from the relevant Interactive Executive Editor or equivalent and in the most serious cases, when for example it is proposed to use a false identity, from Controller Editorial Policy.
If a researcher or producer actively intervenes to steer the course of a chat room discussion to help a programme, they should say who they are and what they are doing.
See Advice Note on Research on the Internet.