London (CNN) — James Murdoch, the son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, stepped down as the chairman of BSkyB on Tuesday, the British satellite broadcaster announced.
He has been hammered by accusations that News Corp.’s British Sunday tabloid the News of the World systematically eavesdropped illegally on crime victims, politicians, celebrities and veterans in search of stories.
Murdoch, 39, has consistently denied knowing about the scale of phone hacking at the paper, which he ordered shut down last summer in the face of the scandal.
He referred to it in his resignation, saying: “I am determined that the interests of BSkyB should not be undermined by matters outside the scope of this company.”
He made clear he was trying to shield the satellite broadcaster from fallout from the newspaper scandal, saying: “I believe that my resignation will help to ensure that there is no false conflation with events at a separate organization.”