CGTN: British regulators withdraw license from Chinese state broadcaster

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Media regulator Ofcom said on Thursday that it had revoked the channel’s license after an investigation “concluded that the license is falsely owned by Star China Media Limited.”

Ofcom said Star China Media Limited had no “editorial responsibility” for the channel’s output and therefore “does not meet the legal requirement to control the licensed service.” Star acted as the distributor, rather than the provider of the news channel, it added.

The regulators also rejected a proposal from CGTN to transfer the license to a new entity after determining 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 with the rules, but that has not happened. We now consider it appropriate to revoke the license for CGTN to broadcast in the UK,” said an Ofcom spokesman.

Ofcom previously ruled that CGTN has repeatedly violated standards of impartiality with last year’s coverage of protests in Hong Kong.
CGTN was launched in 2016. It says it “provides a global audience with accurate and timely reporting and rich audiovisual services, it fosters communication and understanding between China and the world, and it strengthens cultural exchanges and mutual trust between China. and other countries. “

CGTN is headquartered in Beijing and has three manufacturing centers in Nairobi, Kenya, Washington DC and London.

– This is a story in progress and will be updated.

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