Ofcom has imposed a financial penalty of £2000 on The Pakistan Muslim Centre (Sheffield) Limited in relation to its community radio station Link FM 96.7, for failing to comply with our broadcasting rules.
On 16 December 2020, Link FM 96.7 broadcast a Nasheed titled “Jundullah” (meaning “soldiers of Allah” in Arabic) during an episode of its Breakfast Show. The same Nasheed was broadcast again on a separate episode of the same programme on 22 December 2020. Ofcom’s decision published on 9 August 2021 in Issue 432 of the Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin (PDF, 499.1 KB) (the “Breach Decision”) found that the Nasheed contained an indirect call to action cumulative effect of the lyrics and imagery was to condone, promote and actively encourage others to participate in violent acts as a form of devout religious expression. We found that the Nasheed contained material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or lead to disorder, and was also potentially offensive and not sufficiently justified by the context. We therefore found the programmes had breached Rules 3.1 and 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code.
Ofcom has imposed a sanction on the Licensee of a financial penalty of £2,000 and a direction to broadcast a statement of Ofcom’s findings on a date and in a form to be determined by Ofcom.
Sanction decision – Link FM (PDF, 306.4 KB) – 11 March 2022