Decision of further sanction – Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre

Ofcom has decided not to impose any further sanction on Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre after its broadcast of The Family Programme, on community station New Style Radio 98.7 FM on 1 November 2020, which on 7 December 2020 Ofcom found to have contained potentially harmful content about the Coronavirus pandemic (PDF, 444.7 KB). It has already been required to broadcast a summary of Ofcom’s findings.

Our investigation found that the two-hour programme discussed a number of highly contentious, unevidenced conspiracy theories about the Coronavirus, for example that 5G technology was linked to the spread of the virus, without sufficient challenge or context.

Ofcom stresses that there is no prohibition on broadcasting views which are different to, or question official authorities on public health information. However, in broadcasting these theories without sufficient challenge or context, Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre failed in its responsibility to ensure that listeners were adequately protected. As a result, we directed New Style Radio to broadcast a summary of our findings on 13 December 2021 at 18:00.

Ofcom subsequently considered whether imposing any further sanction would be appropriate in this case. Ofcom concluded that the direction it had already imposed on Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre to broadcast a statement of Ofcom’s findings was sufficient in remedying the potentially significant harm to listeners and that a further sanction would not be appropriate in this case. Ofcom’s decision not to impose any further sanction on Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre has been published today, on 21 June 2021.

Decision on further sanction -  Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre (PDF, 280.1 KB)