Mark Steyn ordered to pay £50,000 after High Court ruling
- A former presenter faced legal action from Ofcom regarding comments made about Covid in two shows during 2022.
- The high court dismissed his claims, stating that Ofcom's decisions were justified and comprehensive.
- As a result, he has been ordered to pay £50,000 in legal costs, with further costs yet to be determined.
In July 2023, a former presenter on GB News, Mark Steyn, lost his legal battle against Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator. The case centered on two of his broadcasts in 2022, where he made controversial statements regarding Covid vaccines. Ofcom determined that his comments were misleading and risked causing harm to viewers, leading to the regulatory action against him. The high court reviewed the claims made by Steyn and ultimately dismissed them, stating that Ofcom had acted within its authority and that its rationale for the decisions was both detailed and comprehensive. Mrs. Justice Farbey emphasized that there was no substantial ground to argue that Ofcom had erred in its judgments regarding the content of the shows, particularly one episode where the presenter interpreted UK Health Security Agency data in a contentious manner. Additionally, another broadcast featuring Naomi Wolf’s extreme comparison of the vaccine rollout to pre-Nazi Germany was flagged by the regulator as promoting conspiracy theories. The court underlined the importance of protecting viewers from potentially harmful information presented in a misleading context. Consequently, the judge ordered Steyn to pay £50,000 in legal costs to Ofcom by November 19, 2023, with further costs subject to detailed assessment. This case underscores the accountability of media presenters in handling sensitive health information during a public health crisis.