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Comment by mytailorisrich | Hacker News Reader

> It's the same regulations for everyone. There's no mystery to it.

That's either naive or disingenuous.

CCTV News / CGTN has had a licence for years. Suddenly Ofcom finds that it is in the name of the wrong company and that they cannot transfer it to the correct company because that company ultimately reports to the Chinese Communist Party.

Anyone can make their own conclusions but to me it seems quite obvious that there has been a conscious decision to act against CGTN now.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong but, again, let's not be naive about things.

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I don't think you quite get how Ofcom works.

Ofcom received a complaint in Feb 2020[1] which it investigated -- taking a year to reach this conclusion is not 'sudden'.

The request to transfer the licence to another entity didn't supply all the required information for the transfer[2].

Ofcom operates with a bias against meddling[3] -- you've got to try quite hard to get them riled but not complying with broadcasting law is definitiely one way to do it.

[1] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/212884/...

[2] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-rele...

[3] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/policies-and-guidelines

I do get how Ofcom works.

On the other hand, you do not get my point. There is always more than following the rules like a computer program does. There is always politics involved, not least when foreign relations are involved, it's very naive not to realise that.

So you can't show that Ofcom has acted improperly.

> Suddenly Ofcom finds

It wasn't sudden at all. CGTN was given plenty of opportunity to maintain its licence. CGTN chose not to.

Who ever suggested that they acted improperly?

After years they have decided to very zealously apply the rules and I'm sure that this has nothing to do with the current political climate between the UK and China since Ofcom is independent... There.

Too bad that no discussion is apparently possible on these issues and the reality of politics.

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