China’s top broadcasting regulator said Thursday that it will ban BBC World News from the country, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
The National Radio and TV Administration (NRTA) said that BBC World News was found to have “undermined China’s national interests and ethnic solidarity” because of its China-related reports that “went against the requirements that news reporting must be true and impartial,” Xinhua said.
In its own statement, the NRTA wrote: “As the channel fails to meet the requirements to broadcast in China as an overseas channel, BBC World News is not allowed to continue its service within Chinese territory. The NRTA will not accept the channel’s broadcast application for the new year.”
Australia-based BBC World News presenter Yalda Hakim tweeted that the particular points of contention were reports on the ongoing genocide of ethnic Uighurs in the western Xinjiang region and China’s handling of the coronavirus.
The move comes exactly a week after the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV’s English-language service CGTN lost its broadcast license in the U.K. after U.K. media regulator Ofcom determined that its editorial content was ultimately controlled by the ruling Communist Party, not the existing license holder, Star China Media Limited.
The BBC had not yet responded to Variety’s request for comment at the time of publication.
More to come.
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