The United Kingdom’s broadcast regulator imposed a fine of 20,000 pounds (approximately Rs 19.73 lakh) on Arnab Goswami’s Republic Bharat for promoting hatred and intolerance.
The news channel has been asked to air an apology for the same.
The UK Broadcast regulator criticised views expressed by Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami in the channel’s “Poochta Hai Bharat” programme aired on September 6, 2019, and mentioned that some guests violated its broadcasting norms.
Republic Bharat has been fined for a programme which was related to India’s Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft mission to the moon and “involved a comparison of India’s space exploration and technological advancements compared to Pakistan, and Pakistan’s alleged terrorist activities against Indian targets,” the release said.
The regulator said “the comments made by Goswami and his guests on the dicussuion panel amounted to hate speech against Pakistani people, and derogatory and abusive treatment of Pakistani people”.
The order further noted :
“We were particularly concerned by the fact that the programme broadcast material which included hate speech towards Pakistani people based on their nationality. These statements were broadcast without sufficient challenge and without sufficient context to justify their broadcast. Such material is inherently serious and the seriousness is more pronounced in the context of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan at the time of the broadcast, as described at paragraph 33 above. Based on these factors, we also considered this programme had the clear potential to cause significant offence and harm, in particular to Pakistani people”.
The order added :
“The programme contained statements which amounted to hate speech against, and was abusive and derogatory about, Pakistani people on the basis of their nationality. 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. In Ofcom’s view, the potentially harmful and offensive nature of the content was compounded by the political context in which the episode of “Poochta Hai Bharat” was broadcast.
