GB News 'stands by decision' as it launches legal proceedings against Ofcom over broadcasting rules
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GB News said it would “stand by” its decision after Ofcom ruled earlier this week that the channel had breached broadcasting rules, as it launched legal proceedings against the media regulator.
In a statement, it said Ofcom’s rulings "go against journalists and broadcasters rights to make editorial judgements in line with the law". It added: “GB News has begun the formal legal process of challenging recent Ofcom decisions which go against journalists’ and broadcasters' rights to make their own editorial judgements in line with the law and which also go against Ofcom’s own rules.
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Hide Ad"Ofcom is obliged by law to uphold freedom of expression. Ofcom is also obliged to apply its rules fairly and lawfully. We believe that, for some time now, Ofcom has been operating in the exact opposite manner.
"We cannot allow freedom of expression and media freedom to be trampled on in this way. Freedom of the press is a civil right established by the British in the seventeenth century with the abolition of censorship and licensing of the printing press.
"We refuse to stand by and allow this right to be threatened. As the People’s Channel we champion this freedom; for our viewers, for our listeners, for everyone in the United Kingdom."


Earlier this week, Ofcom announced it was considering a statutory sanction against GB News after the channel was found to have broken due impartiality rules. The broadcast regulator revealed in February that it was investigating a Q&A session during which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fielded questions from the public.
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Hide AdOn May 20, Ofcom said it had concluded that the programme, titled People's Forum: The Prime Minister, breached its broadcasting regulations. However, GB News responded on Thursday: "The media watchdog ruled that while it had no issue with the programme's format in principle, an 'appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints was not presented' - despite 14 of the 15 questions asked being highly critical of the government."
Additionally, the media watchdog upheld complaints concerning five other shows hosted by Tory MPs Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Esther McVey, and Phillip Davies. Since its launch in 2021, GB News has been found in breach of broadcasting rules 12 times. There are still seven ongoing investigations, including one regarding a programme hosted by its former presenter Dan Wootton, focusing on fairness and privacy rules.
An episode of Nigel Farage's show is also under investigation for due impartiality. Other programmes, such as Breakfast with Eamonn (Holmes) and Isabel (Webster), are being investigated for adherence to rules on due impartiality and broadcaster views/opinions. In March, Ofcom informed the channel it was "on notice" for future breaches, warning that repeated violations of the relevant parts of its code could result in sanctions.
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