CGTN: UK Regulator Criticized for 'Act of Censorship' by Banning CGTN
10.3.2021 16:24:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Britain's communications regulator Ofcom has been criticized for its decision to ban and fine China Global Television Network (CGTN) for political reasons.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210310005537/en/
CGTN headquarters building in Beijing. /CFP
A group of journalists, filmmakers and artists recently challenged Ofcom's "act of censorship" in an open letter published by the No Cold War campaign and the Morning Star.
"The decision by Ofcom to remove the broadcasting license of CGTN is an act of censorship which is not in the interests of Britain and its people," the open letter said, calling the move an "attack on free speech."
Ofcom revoked the license of CGTN to broadcast in the UK in early February on the grounds of its ultimate control and its political attributes. Beijing slammed the move as political repression against Chinese media.
In their letter, the signatories questioned Ofcom's justification for banning CGTN.
"Ofcom's justification for taking CGTN off air is that any holder of a broadcasting license in Britain must not be controlled by political bodies. However, this law is only selectively applied. Numerous private and state channels have clear political agendas or control – the BBC itself, for example, which had its staff vetted by MI5, has not had its broadcasting license revoked," it said.
The letter urged Ofcom to reverse its decision and reinstate CGTN's license.
CGTN committed to balanced reporting
A spokesperson for CGTN on Tuesday called on the British regulator to calmly listen to the opinions expressed in the letter and end its political crackdown on Chinese media.
The spokesperson said that as an international news channel, CGTN is committed to providing "accurate, timely and objective news and information with diverse and balanced views" for its global audiences.
"China is increasingly connected and engaged with the rest of the world including the UK," the spokesperson said in a statement. "It is our responsibility to present Chinese viewpoints and perspectives in our news reporting, which is what our viewers expect and is also in the interest of the public."
'The world should be able to hear China's voice'
In a separate statement on Tuesday, CGTN said it is disappointed with and firmly opposes Ofcom's latest sanction decisions and adjudications against it.
Ofcom on Monday fined CGTN 225,000 British pounds (about $310,933) for "breaching rules on fairness, privacy and due impartiality" just weeks after it stripped the network of its right to air in Britain.
"CGTN believes its coverage of the 2019 violent protests in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was fair, truthful and duly impartial," the statement said.
"As a news outlet from China, CGTN made it possible for global audiences to see and hear a more complete picture of events in Hong Kong by reporting on the voices opposing violence and destruction," it stressed. "The fact that CGTN has been sanctioned by Ofcom for its objective coverage of the event is unjust."
"It is in the public interest that the world should be able to hear China's voice and perspective and see the true picture more clearly," it added.
At a regular press briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian urged Ofcom and certain individuals to immediately cease engaging in political manipulation and correct their mistakes, slamming the move as "blatant political oppression."
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210310005537/en/
Contact information
Media:
Jiang Simin
jiang.simin@cgtn.com
+86 18826553286
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Pure Lithium Receives Australian Patent for "Lithium Metal Anode and Battery"6.8.2026 23:49:00 EEST | Press release
Pure Lithium Corporation, a vertically integrated next-generation lithium metal battery technology company, today announced that the Australian patent office has granted the company a patent (AU2025271196) titled “Lithium metal anode and battery.” Australia mines roughly half of the world’s lithium, yet has no domestic battery production at all; every battery the country uses is imported. The granted patent is directed to ways in which Pure Lithium’s technology can change that. Rather than trying to catch up in lithium-ion, Australia can leapfrog the incumbent technology and establish a next-generation industry. As worldwide demand for batteries grows, every country capable of making batteries needs to be making them. That is Pure Lithium’s central goal: opening up markets around the world through battery technology that enables local, independent supply chains, keeping pace with demand and strengthening economies. China controls the lithium-ion battery supply chain and manufactures th
Vercel Appoints Amit Agarwal, Standard Template Labs CEO and former Datadog President, to Board of Directors6.8.2026 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
Vercel, the agentic infrastructure company, today announced the appointment of Amit Agarwal, former president of Datadog and founder and CEO of Standard Template Labs, an AI-first service management platform, to its board of directors. Agarwal brings 25 years of enterprise software experience and a track record of scaling a product-led company from its earliest days into one of the defining public software companies of the cloud era. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260806738617/en/ Amit Agarwal Agarwal joined Datadog in 2012 as its Chief Product Officer and was named President in 2022, overseeing product, corporate development, and go-to-market functions as the company grew past $2.5 billion in annual revenue. Across 13 years, including Datadog's 2019 IPO and its first years as a public company, Agarwal helped build one of the industry's most studied examples of product-led growth at enterprise scale. He conti
Laserfiche Launches Advanced Enterprise Security to Deliver Multi-Region Disaster Recovery and GovRAMP-Ready Compliance for Highly Regulated Industries6.8.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
Laserfiche — the leading SaaS provider of intelligent content management — today announced the launch of Enterprise Security, an advanced suite of security enhancements designed for organizations navigating complex regulatory environments. Enterprise Security addresses GovRAMP and CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services) security requirements based on the NIST SP 800-53 framework. For organizations handling privileged citizen, legal or corporate data, these built-in controls streamline audit preparation and fortify defenses. With organizations placing a higher priority on data stewardship and corporate governance, enterprise IT leaders require a security architecture that protects data without slowing down operations. Laserfiche Enterprise Security extends Laserfiche Cloud’s highly resilient infrastructure with multi-region data replication, elevated security controls for privileged accounts, and built-in governance safeguards. “Maintaining data integrity and compliance has always
Khimji Ramdas Group Chooses Rimini Street to Reduce SAP Support Costs, Protect 700+ Customizations and Reinvest Savings in Innovation6.8.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), the Software Support and Agentic AI ERP Company™ and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle, SAP and VMware software, today announced that Khimji Ramdas Group, one of Oman’s largest privately held conglomerates, has selected Rimini Support™ for SAP, a move that has helped the organization reduce costs, reinvest savings in AI innovation and maintain its highly customized SAP ECC 6 environment with zero downtime. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260806244148/en/ Khimji Ramdas Group Chooses Rimini Street to Reduce SAP Support Costs, Protect 700+ Customizations and Reinvest Savings in Innovation “Staying on SAP ECC is a strategic decision for us,” said Prashant Kumar, CTO, Khimji Ramdas Group. “We went to an industry analyst to ask what options we have to keep our ECC systems running without vendor support dependencies, and they suggested that we contact Rimini Stree
AM Best Upgrades Fortegra Insurance Subsidiaries to A (Excellent)6.8.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
The Fortegra Group, Inc. (“Fortegra” or the “Company”), a global specialty insurer and part of DB Insurance Co., Ltd., today announced that AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of its insurance subsidiaries to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICRs) to “a” (Excellent) from “a-” (Excellent). The outlook assigned to the ratings is stable, and AM Best removed the ratings from under review with positive implications. KBRA has also upgraded all of its ratings for the Company. The upgrade applies across Fortegra’s insurance platform. The property and casualty companies include Lyndon Southern Insurance Company, Insurance Company of the South, Response Indemnity Company of California, Blue Ridge Indemnity Company, Fortegra Specialty Insurance Company and Fortegra Europe Insurance Company SE. The life and health companies include Life of the South Insurance Company, Bankers Life Insurance Company of Louisiana and Southern F
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom