United Kingdom’s Office of Communications, known as Ofcom, has fined the Loveworld television channel belonging to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome the sum of £125,000 (N65.6m) for broadcasting misleading information on COVID-19.
Ofcom revealed this in a statement that the station was fined for breaching the country’s broadcasting code by disseminating misinformation on COVID-19.
“Today we have fined Loveworld £125,000 for this breach of the broadcasting code. This was the second time in a year that the broadcaster breached our rules on accuracy in news and harm in its coverage of the coronavirus.”
The television station had on December 1 2020, aired a 29-hour programme called the Global Day of Prayer, during which claims were made about the COVID-19.
According to Ofcom, the claims included the notion that the outbreak was ‘planned’, that the ‘sinister’ vaccine can be used to implant ‘nanochips’ that can control and cause harm to members of the public and the debunked theory that the virus was somehow caused by 5G.
It also said that it was unfortunate that the station could continue to spread such information despite previous warnings.
It would be recalled that Oyakhilome, the General Overseer of Christ Embassy, has consistently asked members of his congregation to ignore COVID-19 protocols, while also recently encouraging them not to take the COVID-19 vaccines.
