Arnab Show’s Hate Speech Led To £20,000 Fine On Republic Bharat

Republic TV was fined £20,000 for airing content that involved offensive language and hate speech against Pakistan by the United Kingdom’s media regulator Ofcom. The government approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries announced that the show hosted by Arnab Goswami has failed to comply with the rules of Ofcom.

According to Ofcom the show aired on September 6th, 2019 focused on the Indo-Pakistan relations, which was inclusive of space exploration and technological advancements of India when compared to Pakistan; the dispute between Indian and Pakistan’s government over Kashmir and the alleged involvement of Pakistan in terrorist attacks. The panel included three Indians and three Pakistanis. While the hot-discussion was taking place, none of the people from Pakistan could get a word in.

During the discussion, one of the guests from India called Pakistanis, “beggars” and their scientists as “thieves”. While explaining it’s discussion, Ofcom has said that, “the show conveyed the view that all Pakistan citizens are terrorists. Their scientists, doctors, leaders, politicians, sports people are all terrorists.” Ofcom has also mentioned that the host of the show, Arnab Goswami said, “We make scientists, you make terrorists” at one point to the Pakistani panel members.

The fine was raised for the violation of three rules in the Broadcasting code, which also includes that any hate content must not be aired on Television until justified. The Republic TV has responded to Ofcom by saying that the discussion was emotionally charged and did not promote hatred or justified hatred in any way. While explaining the usage of language, Republic TV has said that the language used was more about figures of speech than taking it literally to context, something that the Asian viewers would understand much better.

However, this is not the first time that Arnab Goswami has been a part of the controversy. He is known for his out-spoken and fiery attitude of not letting other people put across their points. This will not be the first time that Ofcom has warned Republic TV on what was being aired. What made Ofcom to possibly come to this discussion was how the host was encouraging the hatred filled views of panelists instead of breaking up the discussion.