Ofcom fines Pastor Chris’ Loveworld TV £125,000 for inaccurate Cocid19 broadcast.

• Loveworld’s Global Day of Prayer featured potentially harmful and inaccurate statements about the Coronavirus pandemic and adequate protection was not provided to viewers. In breach of Rules 2.1 and 5.1. 

• The Global Day of Prayer was a lengthy religious programme running from 17:00 on 1 December 2020 to 22:15 on 2 December 2020 featuring sermons and reports from Pastors around the world, as well as scripture readings, worship and hymns. The programme included both live and pre-recorded content and included sermons from Pastor Chris Oyakhilome (“Pastor Chris”)1.

• Ofcom received one complaint that this programme included potentially harmful statements that linked the Coronavirus pandemic to 5G technology. When assessing the programme, Ofcom identified additional material across the 29 hours and 15 minutes of the programme that raised further potential issues. 
• Loveworld has promised to improve its compliance procedures and would ensure Pastor Chris’ live sermons are henceforth monitored and broadcast with a 20-second delay to screen out any potentially harmful claims in relation to COVID-19.

Ofcom, the UK  regulatory authority for broadcasting, has fined Loveworld Limited for airing potentially harmful claims about the coronavirus disease. The TV channel owned by Nigerian pastor, Chris Oyakhilome, who has on numerous occasions put out outrageously false and harmful claims about COVID-19, Ofcom said.

The Loveworld TV network was previously sanctioned by the regulatory body  for similar issues in May 2020 and January 2021 however this is the first time a financial penalty has been imposed on it.

The regulator said the 29-hour programme, Global Day of Prayer, included statements claiming that the pandemic was planned for sinister purposes.

The programme also aired claims that the COVID-19 vaccine is a means of administering nanochips to control and harm people.

Previous disproven claims about the link between 5G technology and COVID-19 were also repeated during the programme which was broadcast via a direct feed from Lagos.

Ofcom ruled that the programme had the potential to undermine confidence in public health advice about the disease which has infected nearly 130 million people across the world.