BBC 'looks to stop its stars tweeting'

The campaign follows a series of revelations from celebrities such as Sophie Ellis-Bextor, on Twitter about upcoming appearances on the BBC.

The singer tweeted that she was soon to appear in Life’s Too Short, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s latest comedic creation, with Sting. The revelation is just one of several disclosures in recent months prompting a group of BBC executives to campaign for a new clause to be inserted in contracts, preventing stars and writers from tweeting or posting any information about their future appearances on the BBC online, according to The Guardian.

A BBC spokesman said: "We have clear guidelines for personal and professional use of Twitter and social media, all available online. Most talent tweeting fall under the personal usage bracket, and are advised by their agents or producers and we encourage them to read our guidelines.”

But they declined to comment specifically as to whether a senior group of executives had indeed begun demanding that a new clause be added to talent’s contracts.

Other examples of Twitter indiscretions relating to the BBC include Armando Iannucci’s tweet announcing a new series of The Thick of It before the corporation had announced its re-commissioning of the show.

By Emma Barnett taken from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/8615272/BBC-looks-to-stop-its-stars-tweeting.html