Ofcom, the regulator for all communications services in the United Kingdom has again imposed a financial penalty of £25,000 on Loveworld channel, the broadcasting network of the Christ Embassy led by Nigerian pastor Chris Oyakhilome.
Recall that the UK agency had on March 2021 placed a fine of £125,000 on Christ Embassy’s Loveworld Television Network (registered as Loveworld Limited) for “broadcasting inaccurate and potentially harmful information on COVID-19 without providing adequate protection for viewers.”
Oyakhilome has always urged Christians to believe more in the word of God, than in COVID-19 vaccine – a medicine approved by the World Health Organization to deal with a pandemic that has killed over 900,000 people.
Ofcom accused the network of violating its broadcasting rules despite previous warnings, especially with regards to the Coronavirus.
“During two episodes of a current affairs programme, Full Disclosure, the presenters made a number of unevidenced, materially misleading and potentially harmful statements about the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and vaccines, which were broadcast without providing adequate protection for viewers.
“We have made it clear that it is legitimate for broadcasters to discuss and scrutinise the Government’s public health response to the pandemic – including the potential side effects of vaccinations – and that it may be in the public interest to do so.
“However, Loveworld’s presentation of misleading claims without sufficient challenge or context risked causing serious potential harm to viewers, at a time when people were particularly likely to be seeking reliable information relating to the UK’s vaccination programme,” Ofcom stated on Wednesday.
Same day when the fine was imposed, the Loveworld Radio FM aired a ‘daily dose of faith proclaimation’ to its audience on social media.
It partly reads: “No matter the trouble around me, I am unruflled.”
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