Republic Bharat fined Rs 20 lakh by UK Communications Regulator Ofcom

Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami's Hindi news channel Republic Bharat has been fined Rs 20 lakh by the UK Broadcasting Board Ofcom. The action was taken on charges of hatred and propaganda against the Pakistani people.

The UK Broadcasting Board has imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh to Worldwide Media Network, which is licensed to broadcast Republic Bharat to Hindi speakers in the UK. The Republic has also been ordered to give written assurances that programs that incite hatred towards a community will no longer be aired on the channel.

The breach in question referred to a screening of "Poochta Hai Bharat" episode on September 6, 2019, 14:26 pm. The series is a daily current affairs discussion programme, which is broadcasted for the Hindi-speaking community in the UK. Ofcom found the episode to have contained "uncontextualised hate speech" and inciteful language against people from Pakistan.

The Republic India news channel has been broadcasting in the UK since August 2019. In the meantime, the UK's Broadcasting Board has been keeping a close eye on the program 'Poochta Hai Bharat'. The program is being run on a daily basis and will be translated and monitored, Offcom said.