Islam Channel fined £40,000 over antisemitic documentary screening

Published: SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 17:03

Silver television remote control being pressed by thumb with out of focus screen background (Illustrative) (photo credit: INGIMAGE) — Silver television remote control being pressed by thumb with out of focus screen background (Illustrative)

(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

Ofcom fined the Islam Channel for airing the antisemitic documentary 'The Adinia Plan'.

Ofcom, a watchdog responsible for acting as a regulator for communications services in the United Kingdom, fined the Islam Channel Ltd £40,000 (approximately NIS 186,262.56 or $48,742.60) after the channel aired an antisemitic documentary, the watchdog said on Tuesday.

We have fined Islam Channel Ltd £40K for broadcasting highly offensive antisemitic content without sufficient justification.We are imposing a sanction because of serious and repeated breaches of our broadcasting rules.Read more: https://t.co/iBWgl9TlnR
— Ofcom (@Ofcom) September 26, 2023

What did the Islam Channel air?

The documentary aired by the Islam Channel, ‘The Andinia Plan’, was found to have shared antisemitic conspiracy theories that had originated in neo-Nazi publications. It was decided that using these conspiracies in place of fact amounted to hate speech against the Jewish people.

The topic of the documentary refers to an alleged plan to establish a Jewish state in Patagonia, Jewish News reported.

Ofcom stated that “ these were serious and repeated breaches of our rules which warranted the imposition of the following statutory sanctions: a financial penalty, to be paid by Islam Channel Ltd to HM Paymaster General; a direction not to repeat the programme; and a direction to broadcast a statement of our findings on a date and in a form to be determined by Ofcom.”

A PROTESTER wears a ‘Free Palestine’ badge during a march to the Israel Embassy in London, in 2010. For over two decades, it’s been clear to those who study antisemitism that its most prevalent current form is anti-Zionism, says the writer. (credit: Luke MacGregor/Reuters)

The Islam Channel reportedly agreed with the findings of Ofcom, apologizing for breaching rules 3.2 and 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code, according to Jewish News. However, the channel expressed concern over the financial penalty.

The Islam Channel is “currently in an extremely weak financial position [and had] been severely impacted by the cost-of-living crisis”, they told Jewish News. They claimed that they were struggling financially because it is “supporting its newly-launched Bangla channel30, as well as dealing with repayment of a high level of debts, accrued from the COVID period.”

The channel also claimed that the fine could pose an “existential threat to the channel, threatening a very valuable and irreplaceable source of accurate, moderate educational Islamic content, not just valuable to the Muslim community but to British society as a whole”.