Overview

• The premiere episode included an incorrect statement that Multiverse had been awarded a government digital ID contract, which the company denies.
• The BBC issued an apology, removed the episode from iPlayer, edited out the claim, and restored the updated version.
• Founder Jimmy Mulville attributed the lapse to younger producers relying on viral posts and introduced a rule against taking stories from social media without further verification.
• The claim was traced to a freelance journalist’s post on X that remains live and has been viewed roughly three million times.
• Presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell publicly corrected the record, and Mulville noted that neither the show’s nor the BBC’s lawyers flagged the item before broadcast.