UK Lawmaker Calls for Ban on Iranian Broadcaster
TEHRAN -- A British lawmaker has joined the Western propaganda campaign against Iran’s English-language news channel, Press TV.
Andrew Percy has expressed concern about Press TV’s weekly program, Palestine Declassified, and claimed that the program promotes hatred of Jews, without presenting any evidence.
He also called for an effort to counter the channel’s social media platform for covering the news of the Israeli regime.
Recently, two Western organizations called for a wider crackdown on Press TV, citing similar accusations.
One of them was the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization that acts on behalf of the Israel lobby, especially in the United States. The EU, the U.S., and the UK have imposed a wide range of illegal sanctions against Press TV.
Press TV, whose slogan is the ‘Voice of the Voiceless’, believes that the actions of the West are part of media terrorism against Iran.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have demanded the suspension of Press TV in London for publishing content across the UK, The Telegraph newspaper reported Thursday.
Their claim is again focused on Press TV’s “Palestine Declassified” program, formerly hosted by former UK MP Chris Williamson and former Bristol University professor David Miller.
Williamson was suspended from the Labour Party after dismissing concerns about anti-Semitism in the party as “smears” and “bulls---,” and Miller was dismissed from Bristol University after he revealed Jewish students critical of his views were “directed by Israel.”
In July 2013, Press TV was forced off the air in the UK after the media regulator Ofcom revoked its license for allegedly breaching the Communications Act.
In the same year, it was taken off the air in North America after the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Press TV, then, was dropped from the Galaxy 19 satellite platform that allowed it to broadcast in the United States and Canada.
The network has denounced the measures as “media terrorism.”
The broadcaster has a large number of viewers across Western countries and a considerable number of followers on social media.