Decision – Loveworld Limited
| Published date | 05 December 2022 |
Decision: 155 (22)
1
Sanction: Decision by Ofcom
Decision: Sanction: to be imposed on Loveworld Limited
For material broadcast on Loveworld Television Network (“Loveworld”) on 4 September 2021.
Ofcom’s Sanction Decision against: Loveworld Limited (“LL”, “Licensee”) in respect of its service
Loveworld Limited (TLCS000787BA/1).
For: Breach of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code (the “Code”)1:
Rule 2.1: “Generally accepted standards must be applied to
the contents of television and radio services […] so as to
provide adequate protection for members of the public
from the inclusion in such services of harmful material”.
Rule 4.6: “Religious programmes must not improperly
exploit any susceptibilities of the audience”.
Ofcom’s Decision: To impose a financial penalty (payable to HM Paymaster
General) of £15,000 and to direct the Licensee to broadcast
a statement of Ofcom’s findings.
1 See Ofcom Broadcasting Code.
Decision: 155 (22)
2
Executive Summary
1. Loveworld is a religious television channel broadcast on satellite providing a service in the UK
from an Evangelical Christian denomination with a global network of churches2. The Licence for
the Loveworld service is held by Loveworld Limited (“LL” or “the Licensee”).
2. On 4 September 2021 at 09:30, the Licensee broadcast Your Loveworld, a one-hour long
programme featuring sermons from Christ Embassy Pastors giving religious teachings,
demonstrations of faith and appealing for the audience to donate money as part of the Christian
practice of sowing and reaping.
The Breach Decision
3. In Ofcom’s Decision (“the Breach Decision”) published on 9 May 2022 in Issue 450 of the
Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin3, Ofcom found, that the programme contained potentially
harmful statements that solicited donations on the basis of religious faith with claims they would
improve the donor’s health, wealth and success without providing adequate protection to
viewers, in breach of Rules 2.1 and 4.6 of the Code.
4. The Breach Decision sets out specifically the broadcast material that was in breach, along with
reasoning as to why the material had breached the applicable rules of the Code.
5. Ofcom put the Licensee on notice that it considered these breaches to be serious and, in the
case of Rule 2.1, repeated and that it was minded to consider them for the imposition of a
statutory sanction. This document sets out Ofcom’s Decision for the consideration of a sanction.
The Sanction Decision
6. In accordance with Ofcom’s Procedures for the consideration of statutory sanctions in breaches
of broadcast licences (the “Sanctions Procedures”4), Ofcom considered whether the Code breach
was serious, deliberate, reckless or repeated so as to warrant the imposition of a further
sanction on the Licensee in this case.
7. This document sets out Ofcom’s Decision on the type and level of sanction to be imposed on the
Licensee, taking into account all the relevant material in this case and Ofcom’s Penalty
Guidelines5.
8. Ofcom’s Decision is that the appropriate sanction is a financial penalty of £15,000 and to direct
the Licensee to broadcast a statement of Ofcom’s findings.
Legal Framework
9. Ofcom’s principal duty, set out in section 3(1) of the Communications Act 2003 (“the Act”), is to
further the interests of citizens in relation to communications matters and the interests of
consumers in relevant markets.
10. Ofcom has a specific duty under section 319 of the Act to set such standards for the content of
programmes in television and radio services as appears to it best calculated to secure the
standards objectives set out in section 319(2). These objectives include the application, in the
case of all television and radio services, of standards that provide adequate protection to
members of the public from the inclusion of harmful material in such services (section 3(2)(e)).
2 The Christian denomination, Loveworld Incorporated (also kno wn as Christ Embassy) was founded by Pastor
Chris Oyakhilome who is also its president. It runs s even television channels globally.
3 See Ofcom Broadcast and on Demand Bulletin, 9 May 2022 .
4 See Ofcom’s Sanction Procedures
5 See Ofcom’s Penalty Guidelines.
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