Aljazeera spreads fake news over Al Arabiya UK operations

Dubai-based Al Arabiya has responded to fake news circulating over its UK operations and has said that it is part of a new distribution strategy.

The channel described as false the claims that Al Arabiya news was forced off air in the United Kingdom because of a complaint filed by Qatar News Agency, calling it “ridiculous and unfounded”.

“It was an unsuccessful attempt to justify a decision to stop its participation in the British BSkyB package under a new distribution plan that would focus on modern digital platforms instead of traditional subscription only means,” a source in Al Arabiya said.

Al Arabiya suspended its broadcast as part of the BSkyB package in the United Kingdom in late January. Few media outlets have expressed surprise over this decision and published it as “breaking news,” despite the decision and action being taken over two weeks ago, the source said.

Al Arabiya has also urged all media outlets to abide by the rules of honest professional journalism rather than trying to discredit competitors by spreading fake news.