Ofcom Watch

Ofcom has imposed a £40,000 fine on Islam Channel Limited after our investigation found its service, Islam Channel, had failed to comply with our broadcasting rules.

On 22 February 2021, Islam Channel broadcast The Andinia Plan, a one-hour documentary examining a conspiracy theory which originated in a neo-Nazi publication. This theory, known as the Andinia Plan, alleges there is a plan to establish a Jewish state in Patagonia, the southern region of South America governed by Argentina and Chile.

In our Breach Decision, published on 5 December 2022 in Issue 463 of the Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin, Ofcom found that this programme amounted to hate speech against Jewish people. We also found that this antisemitic content was highly offensive and not justified by the context. The programme had therefore breached Rules 3.2 and 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code .

In addition to the financial penalty of £40,000 to be paid by Islam Channel Ltd to HM Paymaster General, Ofcom is also directing the Islam Channel not to repeat the programme, and to broadcast a statement of Ofcom's findings on a date and in a form to be determined by Ofcom.

This week Ofcom hosted the first annual meeting of the Global Online 'Safety Regulators' Network (GOSRN), which brings together censors from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific to discuss solutions to 'global online safety challenges'.

GOSRN is a collaboration between the first movers in internet censorship, including the eSafety Commissioner (Australia); Coimisiún na Meán (Ireland); the Film and Publication Board (South Africa); the Korea Communications Standards Commission (Republic of Korea); the Online Safety Commission (Fiji); and Ofcom (UK).

Members reflected on progress made in the first year of the network's existence and discussed ways in which internet censors can further enhance collaboration in the year to come.

Network members agreed to appoint Ofcom as Chair of the Network for 2024.

Ofcom writes:

We have today published our Annual Report and Accounts covering the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

The report sets out our performance against our plan of work for the past financial year, capturing the progress we have made in our work across major projects and ongoing regulatory responsibilities.

Between 21 February and 21 April 2023, Ofcom consulted on proposals for implementing new statutory restrictions on advertising and sponsorship for less healthy food and drink products.

The Health and Care Act -- which received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 -- amended the Communications Act 2003 to introduce new restrictions on advertising and sponsorship for certain food and drink products that are high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS). These new restrictions apply to advertising on Ofcom-regulated TV and on-demand programme services (ODPS) and also online.

The restrictions:

• prohibit TV services from including advertising and sponsorship for less healthy food and drink products between 5.30am and 9pm;

• prohibit ODPS from including advertising and sponsorship for less healthy food and drink products between 5.30am and 9pm; and

• prohibit paid-for advertisements for less healthy food and drink products that are aimed at UK users from being placed online at any time.

These restrictions take effect from 1 October 2025.

Ofcom is the statutory regulator with responsibility for advertising on TV and ODPS. Our consultation proposed to:

• designate the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as a co-regulator for the new prohibition on advertising for less healthy food and drink products in paid-for online space; and

• amend the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) Code and the Broadcasting Code to reflect the new restrictions that apply to advertising and sponsorship on TV.

This statement summarises the consultation responses and sets out our conclusions.

See statement [pdf] from ofcom.org.uk