Petition · past parliament
States that sponsor murder should not be permitted to broadcast in the UK.
Rejected
21 signatures
What the petition asks
The Litvinenko enquiry has presented proof of Russian State involvement in murder. States that sponsor murder should not be permitted to broadcast in the UK. Russian State media should be banned from broadcast in the UK.
Why it was rejected
It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.
Neither the Government nor Parliament can “ban” a broadcaster. The regulation and licensing of broadcasters are the responsibility of Ofcom, which is an independent regulator.
There are certain conditions which must be met before Ofcom can issue a licence to a broadcaster. If these conditions are violated while the licence is in force, Ofcom can impose sanctions up to and including revocation of the licence. This is a decision for Ofcom, which is takes independently of the Government and Parliament.
The Broadcasting Act 1990 (as amended by the Broadcasting Act 1996 and the Communications Act 2003) lays down a number of restrictions on who can hold Ofcom’s broadcasting licences.
You could start a petition calling on Parliament to change this law to add a new licence condition. For example, the new condition could require that where a station was funded by a foreign government and that government was named by the UK Government in defined circumstances, the licence application to Ofcom would fail or any existing licence would be revoked by Ofcom.
There are certain conditions which must be met before Ofcom can issue a licence to a broadcaster. If these conditions are violated while the licence is in force, Ofcom can impose sanctions up to and including revocation of the licence. This is a decision for Ofcom, which is takes independently of the Government and Parliament.
The Broadcasting Act 1990 (as amended by the Broadcasting Act 1996 and the Communications Act 2003) lays down a number of restrictions on who can hold Ofcom’s broadcasting licences.
You could start a petition calling on Parliament to change this law to add a new licence condition. For example, the new condition could require that where a station was funded by a foreign government and that government was named by the UK Government in defined circumstances, the licence application to Ofcom would fail or any existing licence would be revoked by Ofcom.
Timeline
| 21 Jan 2016 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 1 Feb 2016 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
21
Status
Rejected
Rejected
1 Feb 2016
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.