China Global Television Network

In 2018, the United States Department of Justice ordered the U.S. division of CGTN (known as CGTN America) to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).[14] CGTN America said in its FARA filings on February 1, 2019 that it disagreed with the Justice Department's decision, but registered nonetheless.[15] In 2020, the United States Department of State designated CGTN and its parent company, CCTV, as "foreign missions."[16][17]

CCTV broadcast two forced confessions of the British journalist Peter Humphrey. The first was staged in August 2013, was filmed by a CCTV crew with Humphrey locked in an iron chair inside a steel cage, wearing handcuffs and an orange prison vest. This was before he had been indicted, tried or convicted of a crime. The second, in July 2014, was once again filmed by CCTV, not in a cage this time, but still in a prison vest and handcuffs, before he had been tried or convicted on the charge of illegal information gathering.[18] Both were aired in the UK by CGTN.[19]

On November 23, 2018, Humphrey filed a complaint to Ofcom against CCTV, citing violations of the United Kingdom Broadcasting Code's Fairness and Privacy provisions. Humphrey said that both confessions were scripted and directed by the Chinese police, the public security bureau, while he was a prisoner, in conditions of duress amounting to torture.[19][20] On 6 July 2020, Ofcom ruled that CGTN was guilty of breaching UK broadcasting standards in both incidents. The ruling stated that CGTN had breached Humphrey's privacy and that in the channel's reporting, "material facts were presented, disregarded or omitted in a way that was unfair to Mr Humphrey".[21]

In November 2019, CGTN aired a video of a UK consular employee, Simon Cheng, in captivity "confessing" to consorting with prostitutes. Within a week, Cheng had filed a complaint with Ofcom.[22]

On 18 September 2019, Nick Pollard, a British TV executive, resigned from his post as consultant and advisor to CGTN, giving his reason for leaving as being CGTN's failure to comply with Ofcom's rules on impartiality in connection to its coverage of the Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests.[23] He had joined CGTN in December 2018.[24] Ofcom had several inquiries into CGTN going on in September 2019.[25]

A September 2019 article in The Diplomat stated that CGTN "has a consistent record of blatantly and egregiously violating journalistic standards and encouraging or justifying hatred and violence against innocent people."[26]

On 17 March 2020, CGTN aired a video in Arabic that Reporters Without Borders classified as misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27][28][29]

In August 2020, Australian CGTN television anchor Cheng Lei was detained by Chinese authorities on national security grounds but no details of accusations were provided.[30][31][32]

On 4 February 2021, Star License Media Limited (the UK broadcast license holder for CGTN) had its broadcast license revoked by UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom. Ofcom found that Star had no editorial oversight over the channel it was broadcasting, and was instead acting as a passive distributor for CGTN's programs. Ofcom also denied an application to transfer the broadcast license to the China Global Television Network Corporation (CGTNC), on the grounds that CGTNC was "controlled by a body which is ultimately controlled owned by the Chinese Communist Party".[33] UK law prohibits license holders from being controlled by political bodies.[34] In a statement, Ofcom said:

We have given CGTN significant time to come into compliance with the statutory rules. Those efforts have now been exhausted. Following careful consideration, taking account of all the facts and the broadcaster’s and audience's rights to freedom of expression, we have decided it is appropriate to revoke the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the UK. We expect to conclude separate sanctions proceedings against CGTN for due impartiality and fairness and privacy breaches shortly.[35]