UK slaps £20,000 fine on Indian TV channel over anti-Pakistan content
Ofcom penalises channel over derogatory and abusive comments made by host Arnab Goswami during a show last year
The British TV regulatory authority has slapped a fine of £20,000 on India’s fiercely nationalist and popular Republic television’s Hindi channel for broadcasting hate speech against Pakistan.
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
In a detailed verdict, Ofcom said that Republic Bharat’s
Poochta Hai Bharat programme – the evening primetime show hosted by controversial Arnab Goswami – had failed to comply with its broadcasting rules,
UK Media Watchdog Fines Arnabâs Republic Bharat £20,000 for Hate Speech Against Pakistanis
According to Ofcom, the September 6, 2019, discussion hosted by Arnab Goswami featured comments made by the host and some of his guests that amounted to hate speech against Pakistani people, and derogatory and abusive treatment of Pakistani people.
Arnab Goswami on Republic TV. Photo: PTI
Media22/Dec/2020
New Delhi: British TV regulatory authority Ofcom has imposed a £20,000 fine on Republic Bharat, Republic TV’s Hindi channel, for hate speech against Pakistani people in a programme broadcast last year.
Ofcom, which stands for Office of Communications, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom
Arnab Goswami’s programme fined 20,000 pounds by UK broadcast regulator
The regulator found one of the programmes aired in September 2019 in breach of its broadcasting norms. Updated Dec 22, 2020 · 10:54 pm File photo of Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami. | Screenshot/Facebook
Republic Bharat, the Hindi news channel arm of Republic TV, was fined 20,000 pounds (approximately Rs 19.73 lakh) by the United Kingdom’s communications regulator Office of Communications on Tuesday for broadcasting content that involved “offensive language”, “hate speech” and “ abusive or derogatory treatment of individuals, groups, religions or communities”. Republic Bharat has also been asked to air an apology on the channel.