LONDON (CU)_British regulators on Monday (8 March) fined the Chinese state-owned TV channel, just a month after having revoked its national broadcasting license. UK’s communications watchdog, Ofcom, imposed a €110,000 fine on the China Global Television Network (CGTN), for airing a forced criminal confession of British journalist Peter Humphrey, who was jailed for more than two years by a court in Shanghai in 2014.
Ofcom said the network should have known “there were reasons to doubt whether Mr Humphrey’s consent was genuine and informed.”
However, the Chinese broadcaster has justified the controversial report on public-interest grounds.
Ofcom also imposed nearly €150,000 in fines on CGTN over five other programme it aired in 2019 covering the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, since they “failed to maintain due impartiality”.
Last month, the British regulator revoked the channel’s license after an investigation found it to be lacking editorial controls and having links to China’s ruling Communist party. However, the channel is still liable for penalties over programmes which it aired while it had the license.
Meanwhile, China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television banned BBC World News from broadcasting in the country last month, saying the channel had violated its broadcast guidelines, while it also criticised the channel for its reporting on Coronavirus and the persecution of ethnic minority Uighurs.
The Chinese regulator said BBC World News reports about China were found to “seriously violate” broadcast guidelines, including “the requirement that news should be truthful and fair” and not “harm China’s national interests”.
However, the move was widely seen as retaliation for UK’s revocation of CGTN’s license.
