The United Kingdom’s regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries, the Office of Communications, had sanctioned Loveworld Limited, the operators of the religious cable channel, LoveWorld, for airing “unsubstantial claims linking the pandemic to 5G technology”.
This was contained in a statement Ofcom published on its website on Monday.
The Founder of Christ Embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome owned the television network. The TV network is thus penalized for feeding viewers with the claim that the coronavirus is a “global cover-up”
Ofcom described Oyakhilome’s claim as “potentially harmful”, saying that it the caution followed an investigation into the matter.
According to the statement, “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.
“There is no ban on broadcasting controversial views which are different from, or which challenge, official authorities on public health information. However, given the unsubstantiated claims in both these programmes were not sufficiently put into context, they risked undermining viewers’ trust in official health advice, with potentially serious consequences for public health.
“Given these serious failings, we concluded that Loveworld Limited did not adequately protect viewers from the potentially harmful content in the news programme and the sermon, and the news reports were not duly accurate. Loveworld Limited must broadcast our findings and we are considering whether to impose any further sanction.”
