Hardline Islamic extremists are using fringe British TV channels to call for terrorism, murder and the torture of homosexuals.
A series of little-known channels have been severely criticised for allowing ‘inflammatory’ material to be broadcast.
Among the cases is an Islamic scholar who told viewers that it is their ‘duty’ to ‘kill those who insult Prophet Mohammed’.
In another a woman presenter said homosexuals should be beaten and tortured for the ‘evil, shameful act.’
Ofcom, the communications watchdog, found the stations broke the broadcasting code by allowing the extreme opinions to be aired unchallenged.
But the breaches highlighted fears that extreme Muslim speakers, previously confined to mosques, could reach larger audiences.
The rulings came despite a 2010 report warning extremist material was being broadcast on channels aimed at Muslim communities.
It found the Islam Channel, Britain’s largest Islamic broadcaster, had continued to ignore rules about impartiality and allowed controversial viewpoints to be aired.
Tala Rajab, who wrote the report for Quilliam, an anti-extremist think-tank, told the Sunday Telegraph the ‘shocking’ incidents raised serious questions over broadcast regulation.
He said: ‘If this had happened in a mosque the police would be right in pursuing a criminal investigation.
‘But because they are being broadcast on television channels for some reason there seems to be little appetite for looking into these extreme messages.
‘If these kind of comments were made against black people, for example, you can imagine a channel being shut down overnight, particularly if they had incited violence against a minority.’
Among the shows criticised was one broadcast by Birmingham-based Peace TV, co-owned by Dr Zakir Naik, who was banned from entering Britain in 2010 for the ‘public good’.
It broadcast the phrase: ‘One group of scholars, they say that if a Muslim, if he becomes a non-Muslim he should be put to death.’
Dr Naik, who is based in Mumbai, put a sermon online in 2006 which said ‘every Muslim should be a terrorist.’
Another broadcast by Noor TV was criticised by Ofcom for ‘serious breaches’, and highlighted how inflammatory talk can incite violence.
The show said: ‘There is absolutely no doubt about it that the punishment for the person who shows disrespect for the Prophet is death. No one disagrees about this.’
Last December Radio Asian Fever, in Leeds, was fined £4,000 for breaching broadcasting rules in programmes involving a presenter called ‘Sister Ruby Ramadan’.
She told listeners homosexuals should be beaten and tortured, adding: ‘Torture them; punish them; beat them and give them mental torture.’
Takbeer TV, based in Nottingham, has been found in breach of the code twice in 18 months for programmes which denigrated a minority Muslim sect.
Ofcom said the minority group were labelled a ‘disease’ and ‘monstrous’ intentions and it will now consider an ‘appropriate’ punishment.
The channels have small audiences compared with the mainstream and are aimed at Muslim communities, with some content broadcast in Urdu and other languages.
In some cases the channels also breached a rule that they must keep recordings of all output, raising the possibility other inflammatory material was broadcast undetected.
An Ofcom spokesman said: ‘The majority of Islamic channels comply with our rules.
However, where we identify issues through our monitoring or complaints we investigate fully and take firm enforcement action.’
What's on TV?
What's on TV?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: What's on TV?
Who defines "extreme"?
One could fill many hours of program time detailing the moral infractions and the associated punishments that are detailed in the Bible. It wouldn't surprise me if stoning were called for somewhere in connection with sodomy and other sex acts.
One could fill many hours of program time detailing the moral infractions and the associated punishments that are detailed in the Bible. It wouldn't surprise me if stoning were called for somewhere in connection with sodomy and other sex acts.