CGTN: British regulators take the license from the Chinese state broadcaster

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Media regulator Ofcom said Thursday it had withdrawn the channel’s license after an investigation “concluded that Star China Media Limited owned it improperly.”

Ofcom said Star China Media Limited had no “editorial responsibility” over the channel’s production and therefore “does not meet the legal requirement to have control over the licensed service.” He added that Star acted as a distributor and not as a news channel provider.

Regulators also rejected a CGTN proposal to transfer the license to a new entity after finding that it would eventually be controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and therefore disqualified under UK law.

“We have provided CGTN with numerous opportunities to comply, but it has not done so. We now consider it appropriate to withdraw the license for CGTN to issue in the UK,” an Ofcom spokesman said.

Ofcom previously ruled that CGTN repeatedly violates the rules of impartiality with its coverage of last year’s protests in Hong Kong.
CGTN was launched in 2016. It is said to provide “accurate and timely news coverage to the global audience, as well as rich audiovisual services, which promotes communication and understanding between China and the world, and which enhances cultural exchanges and mutual trust between China and other countries “.

Headquartered in Beijing, CGTN has three production centers in Nairobi, Kenya, Washington DC and London.

– This is a developing story and will be updated.

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