UK Regulator Ofcom imposes £20,000 fine on Republic Bharat

TNI Bureau: The United Kingdom’s communications regulator Office of Communications(OfCom) has sanctioned Republic Bharat TV for airing an “abusive and offensive” program on September 6, 2019 by imposing a fine of £20,000.

The Licensee Worldwide Media Network has also been asked to air a public apology for the program ‘Poochta Hai Bharat’ telecast on September 6, 2019 and not to repeat the program.

Observations by OfCom:

➡️ OfCom finds ‘Poochta Hai Bharat’ telecast on September 6, 2019 “highly offensive” saying it promoted ‘hatred and intolerance’ against a group of individuals.

➡️ Tone of Arnab Goswami and his Guests was provocative. They compared Pakistanis to ‘Donkeys and Monkeys’.

➡️ Pakistani Guests were repeatedly interrupted and afforded little time to make points to challenge.

➡️ Some of the Guests on the programme dubbed a Pakistani people (including their scientists, doctors, leaders, sportspersons and politicians) as Terrorists.

➡️ ‘Every Child in Pakistan is a Terrorist’, said one guest.

➡️ Pakistani Scientists were described as ‘Thueves’. Pakistanis were called ‘Beggars’ by one guest.

➡️ Use of the term “Paki”, was a racist word and unacceptable to the audience of UK.

➡️ All these comments “amounted to hate speech against Pakistani people, and derogatory and abusive treatment of Pakistani people”.

➡️ While it was legitimate to discuss Indo-Pakistani relations, OfCom not accept the Licensee’s characterisation of the programme as a whole. They considered it included repeated instances of hate speech and abusive or derogatory treatment. They further said that the content met Ofcom’s definition of “hate speech”10 and that Rule 3.2 was breached”.

➡️ Under the Equality Act 2010, race is a protected characteristic, and race includes both nationality and ethnic or national origins. These statements would potentially be harmful and highly offensive to any person who did not share the sentiment being expressed by the presenter and his Indian guests.

➡️ The hate speech against the Pakistani people broadcast in this programme without sufficient challenge or context would potentially be particularly harmful in this context,as it had the potential to cause further damage to the already strained relationship between people of Indian and Pakistani origin. As a result, we were of the view that the material posed arisk of harm to the Pakistani community in the UK, and to good relations particularly between members of the UK’s Indian and Pakistani communities.