China Global Television Network (CGTN) was stripped of its national broadcasting license by the British government, citing the latter's direct links to the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Broadcast and telecoms regulator the Office of Communications (Ofcom) Thursday said it revoked CGTN's license to operate in the United Kingdom as an international English language satellite news channel.
Ofcom said it found the company holding CGTN's license, Star China Media Ltd (SCML), "did not have editorial responsibility" over the English-language satellite news channel, which is a licensing requirement.
"As such, SCML does not meet the legal requirement of having control over the licensed service, and so is not a lawful broadcast licensee."
In Britain, licensees must have control over their service and its editorial policies, according to broadcasting laws.
Ofcom noted SCML is merely CGTN's distributor. None of SCML's employees involved in day-to-day operations or decision-making were CGTN employees.
Ofcom said a company called China Global Television Network Corporation is "the ultimate decision maker" over CGTN programming. It pointed out it was unable to transfer the license to this company because it is "ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is not permitted under UK broadcasting law".
Ofcom said it gave CGTN "significant time" to comply with its demands, but these efforts "have now been exhausted."
"Following careful consideration, taking account of all the facts and the broadcaster's and audience's rights to freedom of expression, we have decided it is appropriate to revoke the license for CGTN to broadcast in the U.K.," according to Ofcom.
CGTN, which came into existence in 2016, consists of six international multi-language television channels owned and operated by state-controlled China Central Television (CCTV).
The network is registered under China's State Council, the country's de facto cabinet, and affiliated with the CPC.
Ofcom began investigating CGTN after receiving a complaint from human rights group, Safeguard Defenders, calling for an investigation into the network's ownership.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice ordered CGTN's U.S. unit, CGTN America, to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Last year, the Department of Justice designated CGTN and its parent company, CCTV, as "foreign missions."
