CGTN Webpage / China Global Television Network Homepage
Ofcom has revoked the broadcast license of China Global Television Network (CGTN), the Communist Party’s major foreign propaganda organization, in the United Kingdom, the U.K. media regulator said in a statement released Thursday.
Ofcom said in the statement that the decision came after an investigation found that CGTN’s broadcast license was wrongly held by Star China Media Ltd.
The regulator ruled that the licensee, Star China Media, had no control over the licensed service.
The South China Morning Post quoted a statement from the agency that said “none of the employees involved in the decision-making and day-to-day operation of the channel on CGTN appear to have been employed by Star China Media.”
The media regulator also argued that StarHub did not have editorial oversight of CGTN’s English-language programming broadcast in the UK. In a statement, Ofcom said, “Licensees cannot be controlled by political bodies.”
China Global Television Network (also known as China International Television) is an international news distributor under China Central Radio and Television (CCTV), formerly known as CCTV English International Channel. It currently includes six television channels, three overseas sub-stations, a video news agency and new media clusters.
Ofcom said it refused to transfer the license to China Universal Television Network due to a lack of documentation in the submitted application and in light of its state ownership, saying the network was ineligible for the license because it is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
According to the South China Morning Post, the U.K. regulator previously found China Universal Television Network in violation of U.K. broadcasting regulations for failing to maintain due impartiality in its coverage of the Hong Kong protests.
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