The country’s media regulator said it could not approve the licence application because “the corporation is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is not permitted under UK broadcasting law”
British media regulator Ofcom revoked the licence of CGTN, a Chinese television channel broadcasting in English, on Thursday.
“We cannot approve CGTN’s licence application because the corporation is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is not allowed by British broadcasting law”, – the regulator said in a statement.
The statement explains that licence holder Star China Media Limited has no control over CGTN’s editorial policies, which is a violation of UK law.
“A company holding a broadcasting licence must control the news products it produces. In addition, the law prohibits control of the licence holder by political bodies”, – Ofcom said in a statement.
The regulator also recalled that in 2020 it found a Chinese TV channel guilty of breaching broadcasting rules because it “failed to demonstrate the required impartiality in its coverage of the Hong Kong protests”. At the time Ofcom also warned of the possibility of sanctions being imposed on CGTN. According to a new statement from the regulator, the withdrawal of the channel’s licence does not affect the consideration of sanctions against the channel, which should be taken “shortly”.