The U.K. revoked China Global Television Network’s (CGTN) license in the U.K. in early February, and China hit back by banning the BBC World News from continuing to broadcast in China. Now, CGTN has turned to France to seek a solution.
After the U.K. ordered CGTN to stop broadcasting in China earlier this month, CGTN has turned to France in hopes of regaining the right to broadcast in Europe, according to the Financial Times.
According to the newspaper, the French media regulator, the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, confirmed that CGTN had approached them last December. However, they declined to say when a determination could be made, including whether CGTN could transmit from an earth station to a satellite and whether it fell within French jurisdiction.
The French regulator said “additional analysis” would be necessary following Ofcom’s ruling. Ofcom said on Feb. 4 that it had found that CGTN was under the control of the Chinese Communist Party and that it had therefore revoked CGTN’s license in the U.K.
Ofcom announced in early February that it was revoking CGTN’s license to broadcast in the UK.
The Financial Times noted that the loss of the U.K. license was a big blow to CGTN. The network had put a lot of effort into making London its broadcasting hub in Europe for less than two years. But unlike the U.K., France does not have rules prohibiting state-controlled broadcasters from broadcasting in the country.
The European Commission, which is independent of the EU, is made up of 47 member states and will not be affected by Britain’s departure from the EU. There is a decades-old treaty among the members of the European Commission that allows international broadcasters to broadcast to other EU member states as long as they fall within the jurisdiction of a member state.
The French media regulator stressed that their review was technical, not political, and that if CGTN did fall under French jurisdiction, it could revive the network’s rights to broadcast in the UK. Ofcom did not comment on the case, but said that under the European Commission treaty, it is indeed “possible that a network could be allowed to continue broadcasting in the UK without any license.
German media regulator Medienanstalten told the Financial Times that they were not aware of any contact by CGTN with countries other than France and that they were waiting for a decision from the French regulator.
The Financial Times said CGTN had not made any comments about their plans in Europe. The Wall Street Journal reported in early February that CGTN issued a statement to the public at the Time saying that Ofcom’s investigation of CGTN had been “manipulated by some far-right groups and anti-China forces” and that they were disappointed with the U.K.’s decision.
Ofcom’s move against CGTN has further strained Sino-British relations, with Beijing announcing on February 12 that it would ban the BBC World News channel from continuing to broadcast in China.
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