A meeting between BBC and police is due to be held today, he revealed.
The allegations made against a BBC presenter “are really serious”, according to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.
He told GB News: “I think the first thing to say is that these are really serious and really concerning allegations and they need to be investigated quickly.
“Now, in the fullness of time, maybe there’ll be consideration as to how this was dealt with. I think the important thing now, however, is that these matters are investigated, whether that’s within the BBC, but also potentially by the police, if indeed that’s what the police decide to do.
“So there’s a meeting today, as I understand it, I think we now need to give them the space for that to take place.”
In a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, he said: “We don’t want to be giving a running commentary at this stage.
“As I say, in the fullness of time, no doubt they’ll need to be a consideration about how this has all been handled, but right now they should have the time and the space to investigate these serious and concerning matters.”
Asked if the new online safety bill would protect celebrities from being defamed by speculation on social media, he said: “The first thing is defamation online is the same as defamation offline.
“In other words, if you untruthfully destroy someone’s reputation online, then you can be susceptible to legal action, and that’s absolutely as it should be. And incidentally, that’s precisely how people have achieved redress in the past.
“So far as the online safety bit is concerned, we are absolutely clear that where there are things that are put online, it’s not just defamatory material, but could be a harmful material, then there is a duty on social media companies to take that down and if they don’t there can be consequences for it which can be which can include a very significant fine.”
Source: GB News
