The European Broadcast Union (EBU) insists, actually no, prides itself on the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) being an apolitical contest. But in reality, what does this mean and how does this work in reality?
As an individual, could you truly live life completely detached from politics? Would it even be possible?
You wake up—what’s for breakfast? A simple choice, right? But wait. Do you buy organic produce? Is your coffee fairly traded? Do you really not care where your food comes from, how it’s made, or who profits from it?
Then comes the commute. MobilityWays’ 2024 Commuter Census found that cars remain the most popular way to get to work, though active travel and public transport methods are rising. How do you make this choice? Political policies shape all of them—fuel duty, low-emission zones, train fare subsidies. Whether you drive, cycle, or take the bus, each decision is tangled in governance at both local and national levels.
Finally, you reach work. You withdraw from the union – after all, that’s political. At least childcare is sorted, with 30 hours of free provision per week. Oh, wait – another political choice. And what about sick leave? If your child falls ill, will you take time off? Head to the NHS-funded GP? More policies at play in every facet of life.
Even in the smallest moments, politics is impossible to ignore. Whether you actively engage or step back, the influence remains. Perhaps disengagement isn’t absence – but rather, silent participation.
Back to the EBU, who of course claim that they are completely non-political, but let’s look at if that’s really all it seems.
In 2018, Chinese broadcaster Mango TV aired the first Semi Final of the ESC. Pride flags were blurred and performances featuring storylines of same sex relationships were not shown at all.
The EBU acted swiftly and decisively, Mango TV were barred from broadcasting the rest of the contest as the censorship was not in line with their values of diversity.
If you didn’t realise it back then I’d say it’s impossible to not know now that diversity is in itself political. All you have to do is glance at the news (also not apolitical for what its worth) to see attacks on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) principles, yes mostly from America but we see it here too.
The UK Supreme Court ruling that the definition of ‘female’ in the Equality Act only applied to those who were born women, leaving trans people (1% of the population) at risk of being publicly outed and degraded just for going to the bathroom.
The last ‘LGBT Free Zone’ in Poland was only abolished last month.
But at least the EBU were clear back in 2018, censorship of LGBTQ symbols is wrong.
Well, until 2024 anyway, when Nemo had to sneak a non binary flag onto the stage during the flag parade and then artists and delegations were banned from showing any flag other than their national flag in 2025. It’s rumoured Australian broadcaster SBS may face penalties after Go-Jo and his partner displayed the Aboriginal Flag on screen.
This, is a political choice.
The reason we’re seeing this is of course because of the continued participation of the Israel. The EBU would argue that it is not Israel taking part, but the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (known as KAN) who have, they claim, not broken any rules that would make them ineligible to be a member (but that’s a different story that we won’t get into right now).
But the optics, to any viewer whether part of the fandom or not, is that this is Israel. After the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7th 2023 – which again, for the avoidance of doubt, we completely condemn – Israel have taken part in collective punishment towards the entirety of Gaza. Blocking food, water, electricity. Levelling towns and villages, bombing hospitals.
It seems completely out of place to see a representative of this country on the Eurovision stage, historically thought of as one of peace and love (insert Petra Mede gif here.)
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many countries were quick to threaten to boycott Eurovision that year and the EBU were equally quick to expel Russia to avoid this.
However, this wasn’t seen, although some momentum seems to be building this week, during the Israeli government onslaught. This could be for reasons of broadcasters not wanting to go against their governments foreign policy, potentially undermining any road to peace some may have hoped was there. In short, the EBU weren’t put under any significant pressure (other than the fanbase) to remove Israel.
So to continue to seem apolitical, the EBU has in itself made more political choices to censor self expression of its participants. Going as far as censuring the Spanish broadcaster for mentioning the number of fatalities and casualties the Israel-Hamas conflict has caused:
“Victim figures have no place in an apolitical entertainment program”
EBU letter to RTVE
The EBU has not been put under pressure to take any action, so have taken none accept to try and keep the status quo and pretend there is no political issues present within the ESC.
By refusing to engage meaningfully, the EBU hasn’t removed politics – it has chosen which politics to suppress. This is because the EBU is not apolitical. It is amoral.
