Muslim TV channel watched by millions facing Ofcom investigation

Telegraph

15-03-2025

Britain's most successful Muslim TV channel has been accused of glorifying violent Islamist movements, inciting hostility against the West and portraying jihadist causes in a sympathetic light.
The Islam Channel is now facing an investigation by the broadcasting regulator over claims it breaches rules on impartiality and incites extremism.
A complaint submitted to Ofcom accuses the channel of repeatedly broadcasting material praising the Oct 7 attacks and comparing Israel to the Nazis.
It is also accused of giving airtime to extremists, failing to maintain impartiality in its political coverage and misleading viewers over key facts.
The channel – which claims it has two million viewers daily and is estimated by official figures to be watched by 60 per cent of British Muslims – could be penalised over its content if an Ofcom investigation finds against it.
A report highlighting multiple alleged breaches of the Broadcasting Code by the Islam Channel between November 2024 and January 2025, has been submitted to the regulator by Dr Taj Hargey, the director of the Oxford Institute for British Islam.
Dr Hargey, regarded as a liberal thinker within British Islam, claims the channel consistently portrays Islam as under siege from an oppressive West; presents Hamas, Iran and Islamist Jihadi groups as legitimate 'resistance' movements against Western secular liberal democracies; and fails to include the Israeli government or pro-Israel speakers in its coverage of Gaza.
He also accuses it of promoting a narrow Wahhabi-Salafi version of Islam while excluding Muslims belonging to Shiah, Sufi and Ahmadi denominations, as well as secular liberal Muslims.
Dr Hargey alleges that the Islam Channel repeatedly presents a one-sided view of events.
He claims that its news programme, Islam Channel News, used the sentencing of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana to attack the UK government's counter-terrorism programme Prevent while omitting the fact that he was in possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual.
Dr Hargey also points to the channel's alleged attempt to champion convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui as an innocent Muslim victim of the 'War on Islam', in a documentary broadcast in January, without mentioning her links to Al-Qaeda and her attempts to kill US officers.
The Islam Channel is also accused of breaching Ofcom's requirement that a broadcaster's content must not cause harm or undue offence or incite crime, disorder or violence.
Dr Hargey points to what he claims is the channel's consistently anti-Israel commentary, including a speech by Ismail Patel, the founder of the Friends of Al-Aqsa and joint organiser of recent pro-Palestine marches, in which he accused Israel of being 'a violent racist colonialist enterprise'.
The Channel's presenters and guests are accused of promoting an unquestioning view of radical Islam, with no mention of the violation of women's rights under the current Taliban regime in Afghanistan or Iran's theocracy.
Dr Hargey also accuses the channel of failing to mention the Oct 7 Hamas attacks during a programme on the Gaza conflict in December and of repeating claims that Israeli forces target journalists without allowing the Israeli government or Israeli Defence Forces to respond.
In the letter of complaint to Ofcom, Dr Hargey alleges: 'The station's persistent lack of impartiality, spread of harmful rhetoric, and engagement in political advocacy appear to directly contravene the principles set out in the Broadcasting Code.'
The Islam Channel was founded in 2004 by businessman Mohamed Harrath, who was granted refugee status by the UK in 2000 after fleeing Tunisia, where he had set up the Tunisian Islamic Front to provide what he said was non-violent opposition to Ben Ali's dictatorship.
Mr Harrath was arrested in South Africa on terrorism charges in 2010, after the Tunisian authorities added him to Interpol's Red Notice list. He was later released without charge and accused the Tunisians of using Interpol to harass him.
In a Christmas Day broadcast last year, Mr Harrath compared the situation of Muslims in Britain to that of the Jews in 1930s Germany under the rise of the Nazis, stating: 'There is a targeting of the Muslim community. . . There is another way to learn from history. From the Jewish community. They were well off in Germany and they thought nothing would happen. . . We have to fight. We have to fight back.'
The Islam Channel, which is available in the UK on Sky, Virgin and Freeview and livestream around the world, is funded by advertising and viewer donations, including fundraising for itself live on air by claiming to be the only channel telling the truth about the war in Gaza.
It was also reported to have received a £2 million investment in 2007 from the overseas arm of Al-Shiddi Group, which has links to the Saudi royal family.
The channel was awarded the Responsible Media of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards in 2014 and 2015.
But it has also been found to have been sanctioned by Ofcom in the past for 'serious and repeated' breaches of the Broadcasting Code.
'Sectarian ideology'
In 2007, the regulator fined it £30,000 for breaking the broadcasting code by having Yvonne Ridley present news programmes while she was a candidate in local elections.
In November 2010, the channel was censured by Ofcom for allowing presenters to advocate marital rape and domestic abuse.
In September 2023, Ofcom found that its one-hour documentary The Andinia Plan amounted to hate speech against Jewish people.
Dr Hargey told The Telegraph: 'Islam Channel epitomises hideous Islamic fundamentalism in the UK. It purports to represent British Muslims, but its sectarian ideology is nothing but an insidious initiative to mainstream Muslim extremism and fanaticism in this country.
'It revels in their 'them and us' narrative, inhibiting any effective social cohesion. Ofcom needs to take decisive action to mitigate the channel's incendiary language and partisan guests who do not subscribe to traditional British values.'
An Ofcom spokesperson: 'We are assessing the complaints against our rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.'
The Islam Channel was repeatedly approached for comment.