LONDON: The organizers of a planned pro-Palestine demonstration outside the BBC’s London headquarters have labeled a police decision to block the march as “discriminatory” and announced their intention to proceed with the event on Jan. 18.

The Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, which is organizing the march, made the announcement on Tuesday following a meeting with London’s Metropolitan Police.

In a statement, the group accused the authorities of deliberately seeking to prevent their protest outside the BBC. “The police have made abundantly clear that the real aim is to block us from protesting at the BBC under any circumstances,” the PSC said.

The Met had previously announced its decision to ban the march, citing security concerns after consultations with local business owners and religious leaders who raised objections to the demonstration’s proximity to a synagogue.

The PSC has repeatedly denied that its marches — which are regularly attended by Jewish groups — pose any threat to the Jewish community.

The Metropolitan Police are attempting to block our protest at the BBC.

This attack on our right to protest is discriminatory and anti-democratic.

Despite this, #WeWillMarch.

Join us at 12PM on Saturday 18 January at Whitehall. pic.twitter.com/orGHbKpC7a

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) January 14, 2025

To address the police’s concerns, the PSC proposed reversing the original route, and suggested that the march begin at Whitehall and avoid the synagogue’s Shabbat service, which ends at 1 p.m., before finishing at Portland Place.

However, the group said that police rejected the proposal and instead introduced “new and dubious justifications” for the ban. The PSC also accused authorities of falsely claiming that “influential supporters and organizers” of the march had encouraged attendees to defy police-imposed conditions.

Over the weekend, hundreds of political, cultural and social figures voiced their support for the right to demonstrate in solidarity with Palestine.

A letter organized by a Jewish bloc that regularly takes part in pro-Palestine marches gathered more than 700 signatures from members of the Jewish community.

The PSC said its protest is rooted in frustration over “the complicity of the BBC, which has failed to report the facts of this genocide,” adding that the police have “no legitimate grounds” to block the march.

It remains unclear how the situation will unfold on Saturday or whether an agreement will be reached to avoid potential disruption or police intervention.

In a statement to Arab News on Wednesday, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said that there were no updates, highlighting that the police’s position “still stands” based on earlier statements.

PSC media officer Bhavesh Hindocha described the situation as “fluid,” adding that changes could occur up to the day of the march.

“We intend to march from Whitehall towards the BBC, as close as we can depending on police conditions,” he said.

JAKARTA: Indonesia plans to issue a regulation to set a minimum age for users of social media, a move aimed at protecting children, its communications minister has said.
The plans follows Australia’s decision to ban children under 16 from accessing social media, with fines for tech giants from Instagram and Facebook owner Meta to TikTok if they failed to prevent children accessing their platforms.
Minister Meutya Hafid did not say what the minimum age would be in Indonesia. Her remarks, made late on Monday, came after Meutya discussed the plan with President Prabowo Subianto.
“We discussed how to protect children in digital space,” she said in a video uploaded on the YouTube channel of the president’s office.
“The president said to carry on with this plan. He is very supportive on how this kind of child protection will be done in our digital space,” she said.
Internet penetration in Indonesia, a country of about 280 million people, reached 79.5 percent last year, according to a survey of 8,700 people by the Indonesia Internet service providers’ association.
The survey showed 48 percent of children under 12 had access to the Internet, with some respondents of that age group using Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. The survey showed Internet penetration was 87 percent among “Gen Z” users, or those age 12 to 27.