In March 2003, on the eve of the outbreak of war in Iraq, the British Government and The British television control agency issued a statement saying ITC's Programme Code would temporarily remove from broadcast songs and music videos featuring "sensitive material", including "Zombie".[96] Numerous media groups complied with the decision to avoid "offending public feeling", along with MTV Europe.[96] Since it violated the ITC guidelines, "Zombie" was placed on a blacklist of songs, targeting its official music video.[96] The censorship was lifted once the Iraq conflict was over.[96]