BBC banned in mainland China

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”116226″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]China has banned the BBC in mainland China for breaches of rules on truth and impartiality according to the state news agency.

The report said the British broadcaster would not have its licence renewed by China’s media regulator at the start of the Chinese new year. The move follows the decision last week by the UK regulator, Ofcom, to strip the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN of its licence in the UK.

The Chinese statement said BBC World News “was found to have seriously violated regulations on radio and television management and on overseas satellite television channel management in its China-related reports which went against the requirements that news reporting must be true and impartial, and undermined China’s national interests and ethnic solidarity.”

BBC World News was not available in most domestic news packages in China but could be viewed at some hotels. Recent BBC reports on China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak and abuses in Xinjiang’s internment camps are thought to have infuriated the authorities.

In Hong Kong, the publicly funded broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong also said it was suspending the relay of BBC radio news programming.

Index on Censorship CEO Ruth Smeeth said, “Index on Censorship is appalled at the Chinese Government’s announcement today to ban the BBC World Service from broadcasting in China.

“Media freedom is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and as an original signatory the Republic of China has a responsibility to protect media diversity – not attack it.

“We are concerned that this is just the latest in an ongoing crackdown on foreign media outlets in China. Last year foreign journalists, including from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, were effectively expelled from the country allegedly as a result of their reporting.

“The BBC World Service provides impartial and factual news throughout the world and is a trusted news outlet. This assault on its integrity is a clear effort to further restrict access to information to those who reside in China.

“Index will be writing to the Chinese Ambassador in the UK today as we call on the Chinese Government to immediately re-instate broadcast rights for the BBC and to guarantee ongoing access to BBC journalists both in China and Hong Kong and to ensure their safety.”

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the ban was “an unacceptable curtailing of media freedom. China has some of the most severe restrictions on media & internet freedoms across the globe & this latest step will only damage China’s reputation.”

The BBC said in a statement: “We are disappointed that the Chinese authorities have decided to take this course of action. The BBC is the world’s most trusted international news broadcaster and reports on stories from around the world fairly, impartially and without fear or favour.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Stop deleting our media shows – what we watch shouldn’t be heavily restricted (Independent)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Head of content for Index on Censorship Jemimah Steinfeld writes in the Independent on the trend of policing TV shows, and the debate at the BBC on biases in comedy.

“Great comedy needs free expression. It’s its lifeline. And some of the best comedy offends those on both the left and the right. That doesn’t mean it has to be completely unfiltered; comedy should not incite hatred and violence (which some are definitely guilty of). But there is a gap between this and the more subjective charge of causing offence or being biased.”

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Maria Ressa: The celebrated Philippine news boss enraging Duterte (BBC News)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Editor-in-chief of Index on Censorship magazine Rachael Jolley quoted on BBC News about Maria Ressa, CEO of Philippine online news organisation Rappler, and her recent sentencing of up to six years in prison after being found guilty of cyber libel. Index has previously published work by Miriam Grace Go, news editor at Rappler.

“Rachael Jolley, editor of the Index on Censorship magazine, recalled meeting Ms Ressa at a journalism festival before her name was widely known. Even then, she says she quickly came to view her as an “extraordinarily strong individual to be able to stand up to the government pressure”.”

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The BBC bounces back (Eurozine)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Editor-in-chief of Index on Censorship magazine Rachael Jolley writes in Eurozine about the trajectory of the BBC in recent months, from facing a barrage of criticism from the government to being lauded for keeping the public informed during the coronavirus pandemic.

“A BBC reporter, who described the months before as having felt like the BBC and everyone working there was constantly under fire, said only the BBC could have pulled off the massive change in programmes, fired up its news service and introduced the new education services in such a short time.”

Read the full article here. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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