X
Home & Office

UK cable television provider mistakenly censors Charles D**kens

An "overzealous profanity checker" was to blame for one of the UK's largest cable television company's blocking of certain words, like Charles Dickens and soccer club Arsenal.
Written by Zack Whittaker, Contributor

Anyone wanting to watch the Manchester City vs. A**senal match might have been confused as to why one of the soccer clubs' name was censored by a UK television and radio provider.

Meanwhile, those in the Christmas spirit were equally confused as to why Charles D**kens' name was asterisked out on the TV programme guide. Anyone wanting to tune into a Hitchc**k classic were also hit by the problem.

Why? Because of an "overzealous profanity checker".

Virgin Media customers in the UK were confused as to why swear-words within ordinary words, from Dickens to Hancock, were filled with asterisks on the television guide.

The UK broadband and cable television giant explained to the Financial Times' Tim Bradshaw that the profanity checker "took offence at certain programme titles", adding: "The altered titles have been swiftly an*lysed and we're fixing any remaining glitches".

Of course, the asterisks in its statement was wholly intentional.

I imagine people from Sc**thorpe were furious.

Related:

Editorial standards