LONDON: The United Kingdom’s regulatory and competition authority for broadcasting, Ofcom, has suspended the license of Khalsa Television Limited on London after one of its programmes “aired content that included material likely to incite violence and further the Khalistani cause”. Ofcom tweeted and said in a news release that an investigation found the KTV channel in breach of broadcasting rules.
It said the investigation found that Prime Time, a 95-minute live discussion programme, included material likely to incite violence and included several statements which, taken together, promoted violence, including murder, as an acceptable and necessary form of action to allegedly further the Khalistani cause. “This is a serious breach of our rules on incitement of crime and disorder.”
The regulator added, “Given the serious nature of this breach, and for the reasons set out in our suspension notice, we are today suspending Khalsa Television Limited’s licence to broadcast in the UK with immediate effect.”
Ofcom has previously taken similar action against the channel, when it imposed a total fine of GBP 50,000 in February last year for broadcasting a music video and a discussion programme that was deemed an indirect call for British Sikhs to commit violence and also contained a terror reference.