Loveword Television channel owned by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, has been slammed with a £125,000 (N65m) fine by United Kingdom authorities for airing conspiracy theories about Covid-19 that were unproven.
It will be recalled that on December 1st 2020, the TV channel aired a 29-hour programme called the Global Day of Prayer, during which several unfounded claims were made about the coronavirus pandemic.
These 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 theory that the virus was somehow caused by 5G.
Following a detailed investigation by the communications regulatory body in the United Kingdom, Ofcom, it was concluded that the programme breached broadcasting rules by sharing ‘potentially harmful’ claims about COVID-19.
This will mark the second time in a year that Ofcom will petition Loveworld for making unsubstantiated statements about coronavirus.
In a statement released by Ofcom, the body concluded that Loveworld’s breach of broadcasting guidelines were ‘serious, repeated and reckless.
The broadcasting authority said that the TV channel posed a risk of ‘serious harm’ to viewers who tuned in to watch the programme.
The statement said, “Loveworld’s failure to put these unsubstantiated statements into context risked serious harm to its audience.”
Ofcom added that the religious channels had the potential to make people question the measures put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“They had the potential to undermine confidence in public health measures put in place to tackle COVID19 at a time when cases, hospital admissions and deaths were rising in the UK, and when people were looking for reliable information given advances in the vaccination programme.”
Recall that The Eagle Online earlier reported that Oyakhilome blasted Christian leaders for encouraging their members to take the COVID-19 vaccine while he was preaching in his church.