The CGTN logo outside the China Global Television Network office building in Chiswick Park, west London, Feb. 4, 2021.
Ofcom announced two rulings on Monday (March 8) that awarded CGTN’s licensee, Star China Media Limited (SCML), £100,000 and £125,000 respectively for failing to comply with UK broadcasting regulations, breaching fairness and privacy, and unfair reporting. Media Limited (SCML), the licensee of CGTN, with fines of £100,000 and £125,000 respectively, for a total of £225,000.
Ofcom ruled that CGTN breached fairness rules for five stories on the Hong Kong protests in 2019 and breached fairness and privacy rules for two stories on British citizen Peter Humphrey in 2013 and 2014.
In addition, Ofcom is about to rule on two other “television guilty plea” complaints against CGTN, for its “guilty plea” coverage of former British consulate staff member Jack Cheng and Hong Kong-based bookseller and Swede Gui Minhai.
In a statement, Ofcom said, “We find that the individuals concerned were treated unfairly and their privacy was unjustifiably invaded.”
The statement added that CGTN “did not obtain their informed consent (to be interviewed).”
Based on CGTN’s failure to properly challenge the reliability of its clients’ so-called “confession” testimony under the reporting principles, Ofcom said it is considering the next step in sanctioning CGTN on this basis.
CGTN licensee fined £100,000 for breaching privacy by broadcasting incriminating video
Ofcom said, “On 27 August 2013, CCTV News (which changed its name to CGTN on 31 December 2016) aired a news programme on China24 reporting on the arrest of Peter Humphrey for criminal offences. News Hour, which reported on the indictment of Peter Humphrey. The program included footage of Mr. Humphrey pleading guilty to criminal conduct.”
The statement said Mr. Han Feilong complained to Ofcom in November 2018 about the unfair or inequitable treatment of him and the unwarranted invasion of his privacy in two programs broadcast about him by CCTV News.
The statement said, “In Ofcom’s ruling in Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin 406, issued on 6 July 2020, we found that the two programmes were in breach of sections 7.1 and 8.1 of our Broadcasting Code.” Ofcom has imposed a financial penalty of £100,000 on CGTN’s licensee, Star Chinese Media Limited.
Unfair coverage of Hong Kong protests fines CGTN licensee a further £125,000
In a separate statement released Monday, Ofcom said CGTN had fined Star Chinese Media Ltd. 125,000 pounds for failing to comply with U.K. broadcasting rules.
The statement said, “Between 11 August 2019 and 21 November 2019, CGTN broadcast the following five programs: The World Today, 11 August 2019, 17:00; The World Today, 26 August 2019, 08:00; The World Today, 26 August 2019, 08:00; and Aug. 31, 07:00; The World Today, Sept. 2, 2019, 16:00; China24, Nov. 21, 2019, 12:15.
The statement said, “Each of the (above) programs is related to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong during this period. These protests were initially in response to the Hong Kong government’s Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which allows criminal suspects from Hong Kong to be sent to mainland China for trial. In Broadcasting and On Demand Bulletin No. 403, published on May 26, 2020, Ofcom found that all five programs failed to maintain due impartiality and were in breach of sections 5.1, 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code.”
CGTN hopes to return to the UK again by way of France
Ofcom revoked CGTN’s license to broadcast in the U.K. in February because CGTN’s content was editorially controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, a move that drew retaliation from Beijing, which banned the venerable British broadcaster BBC’s World News Channel.
But then on March 6 it emerged that the French media regulator CSA, which took over European broadcasting rights, had given CGTN the green light to return to European cable networks after only four weeks off the air.
Under the European Cross-Border Television Agreement, CGTN can be broadcast on the territory of all European signatories as long as it receives a broadcast license from any of them. The U.K. is also a party to the agreement, which means CGTN could soon be broadcasting to British households again.
Freesat, the licensee that first broadcast CGTN in the U.K., told the Financial Times on Monday that it had not had any “conversations” with CGTN about its return to the airwaves. (CGTN’s) return would be carefully considered under Ofcom’s guidance.”
Ofcom said it is seeking “clarification” from French authorities on the basis of its decision to release CGTN “to understand any implications for the channel’s distribution in the UK.”
The French media regulator said on March 6 that it would ensure that CGTN respected European standards such as pluralism of information and rejection of incitement to hatred and violence.
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