The backstop is real?

The backstop is required to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland, or so we're told by the BBC and its fellow Remoaners. Isn't this somewhat disingenuous? I thought that the Irish Republic and the UK have both stated they have no intention of erecting a hard border and also that the WTO have stated there is no need to erect a hard border. So why is this line being pushed by the BBC and co?