A group of history scholars is questioning whether viewers should trust the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), accusing the national broadcaster of presenting a slanted view of the nation's history.

"The BBC, of all institutions, should never accept as fact arguments put forward by politically motivated campaigners. Sadly, it appears that tendentious and provocative arguments seem to be given preference, and they have often been relayed without proper concern for accuracy," a spokesperson for History Reclaimed told the Daily Telegraph of the organization's report, which accused the BBC of "rewriting British history to promote a woke agenda."

The report, entitled "Can we trust the BBC with our history?," was released Wednesday and was authored by scholars from some of the United Kingdom's top universities, including Oxford and Cambridge universities. It details numerous examples of what the report called a "consistent bias" in programming related to British history, which the report said was mostly painted in a negative light.

"At their best, the BBC’s programmes are of high quality and are widely praised. But regrettably, it seems that the BBC, for all its merits, does not always respect the objectives set out in its charter and its claim to be strictly impartial," the spokesperson said.

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Some examples the report cited include a travel documentary series that highlighted a 17th century slave holding port on Bunce Island, which the report said left viewers with the impression that "enslavement was a purely British enterprise."

However, the report argues the series omitted the fact that "it was Britain’s Royal Navy which was later sent to suppress the slave trade, or that in doing so between 1808 and 1860 the West Africa Squadron captured 1,600 slave ships and freed over 150,000 African slaves."

The report also goes after the BBC's coverage of legendary World War II-era leader Winston Churchill, with author and broadcaster Lord Roberts accusing the network of pursuing a "fatwa" against the former prime minister.

The report notes that the BBC was forced to admit some of its coverage on Churchill's supposed racism did not explore the full context of the issue, which it acknowledged did not "meet the standard of impartiality appropriate to a report in a news bulletin of this kind."

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"The examples we have highlighted have other common features. They give a voice only to one side of a disputed past, even presenting false history as uncontested fact," the report reads. "Furthermore, those presenting or being interviewed as experts generally have little or no expertise in the subjects on which they are making pronouncements."

The report lists suggestions for how the BBC could improve its history programming in the future, including the establishment of an "advisory panel of properly qualified historians." 

"The BBC has laudable objectives and plays an important role in British soft power worldwide," the report concludes. "But recent pandering to politically motivated activists, especially in the historical sphere, has contributed to calls for the end of the license fee. If the BBC carries on broadcasting politically motivated, gratuitously divisive and factually unreliable material such as the examples used in this report, calls to end the license fee will only get stronger."

When reached for comment by the Telegraph about the report, a BBC spokesperson defended the network's programming, accusing the scholars of "cherry-picking" examples.

"Cherry-picking a handful of examples or highlighting genuine mistakes in thousands of hours of output on TV and radio does not constitute analysis and is not a true representation of BBC content," the spokesperson said.

The BBC did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment on the report.

The recent FIFA World Cup brought out another round of bad actors capitalizing on the streaming demand of the popular games.

Instead of delivering a link to a legit way of watching, those who took the bait are sent to malicious sites that install malware on devices.

That's the trouble with linking to what appear to be free streams and downloads of movies, video and music sources.

Blind linking can lead to more danger for your device than you may realize.

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What is the risk of downloading movies illegally?

Criminals and hackers everywhere want to make it their mission to trick people into giving them their money, private information, or both. They do this with movies and popular online entertainment by providing downloadable links that look super convincing. People who end up clicking them usually think that they'll be able to consume what they want to watch at no cost.

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In reality, many of these links contain all kinds of malware that will give the hacker access to your information. And what's worse, hackers are working overtime to figure out ways for these downloadable files to sneak past any kind of antivirus software that may stop them in their tracks.

What will happen to my device?

The change in your device may not happen immediately when you try downloading these pirated films. But eventually, you may notice your device becoming much slower, random apps opening and closing without your knowledge, and even your battery draining quickly.

For example, back in 2021, ReasonLabs found a new form of malware disguising itself as a way to watch the latest SpiderMan film for free online while it was still in theaters. It was a malicious file containing cryptocurrency mining malware, which can steal your device's resources and hunt for online currencies.

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When consumers would download this file, the code would exclude antivirus software to keep it from tracking any suspicious activity and would mine the cryptocurrency Monero (XMR). You can imagine how much of a headache this caused for anyone who thought they were just getting an opportunity to watch a new film for free.

 How can I protect my device from malicious files?

The most important and necessary way for you to protect your device from all types of malware is by installing solid antivirus software. Downloading antivirus software will allow you to scan any file on your computer for malware before you make the mistake of clicking on it.

See my expert review of the best antivirus protection for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices by searching ‘Best Antivirus’ at CyberGuy.com.

Is there a website I can use to check if the file is malicious?

Yes, and it's called VirusTotal.com. This website is owned by Google and is able to scan links to files that could have malware. All you have to do is follow these steps:

Extra word of caution: If you're going to use VirusTotal.com, be sure to have your antivirus running in the background just in case you accidentally click that link.

For more of my security tips, head over to CyberGuy.com and be sure to sign up for my free newsletter by clicking the "Free newsletter" link at the top of my website.

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