Unic Press UK: Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s LoveWorld UK, a TV station that primarily runs Christian, religious programmes, has been sanctioned by The Office of Communications (Ofcom) – the UK Government-approved body that regulates the broadcasting, telecommunications, and postal industries.
In a press release Monday, Ofcom said it decided to impose a sanction on Loveworld Limited, which broadcasts a television channel known as LoveWorld, for airing a programme and a live sermon that disseminated potentially harmful claims about Covid-19.
“Our investigation found that a report on Loveworld News included unsubstantiated claims that 5G was the cause of the pandemic, and that this was the subject of a ‘global cover-up’. Another report during the programme suggested hydroxychloroquine as a ‘cure’ for Covid-19, without acknowledging that its effectiveness and safety as a treatment was clinically unproven, or making clear that it has potentially serious side effects. A sermon broadcast on Your Loveworld also included unsubstantiated claims linking the pandemic to 5G technology, as well as claims which cast serious doubt on the necessity for lockdown measures and the motives behind official health advice on Covid-19, including in relation to vaccination.”
Ofcom reiterated there is no ban whatsoever on broadcasting controversial views which are different from or which challenge the official authorities on public health information as long as such broadcasts are not based on or driven by unsubstantiated claims that risked undermining the viewers’ trust in official health advice.
LoveWorld has a duty to publish the outcome of this investigation, including the reasons they are being sanctioned, Ofcom said.
