Former US President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC, demanding compensation of about ₹84,000 crore (10 billion dollars). He has accused the news organisation of deliberately twisting his words in a documentary. Ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, the BBC released a documentary titled “Trump: A Second Chance?”. In this film, Trump claims that his speech delivered on January 6, 2021, was shown in a misleading way. He says the BBC removed his words “peacefully and patriotically” and instead portrayed him as encouraging violence. According to Trump, the BBC combined two different parts of his speech, spoken 54 minutes apart, and edited them together to create controversy. This led to widespread criticism and debate. BBC Chairman Samir Shah later admitted that the editing was a “misjudgment” and issued an apology. Following this controversy, two senior executives of the BBC resigned from their positions last month. Now, Trump has filed a lawsuit in a Florida court, stating that the BBC intentionally acted with malicious intent and damaged his reputation. He has demanded 10 billion dollars in compensation for the alleged harm caused. The BBC management has responded by saying they will fight the case legally. They maintain that the documentary falls under freedom of expression and stands by their right to publish it.
