The BBC chief criticized China for blocking its news coverage after the broadcaster’s World News service was banned in China and Hong Kong.
Director-General Tim Davie said the BBC “should be able to do its reporting without fear or favor” and that “media freedom is important”.
At the a statement posted on Twitter, Davie warned of “significant and growing global threats to free media”, adding that some countries are trying to “increase information control”.
“It is very worrying when our journalists are restricted and their work is reduced. It is important to note that, in these difficult times when disinformation abounds, we have seen a growing audience of reliable news sources – including hundreds of millions who come to the BBC.
“Now, more than ever, it is important that we speak out in defense of free and fair journalism,” he said.
The statement came in response to the growing tensions between Britain and China over media freedom.
At midnight Beijing time on Friday, China announced a ban on BBC World News broadcasting about “serious content violations”, accusing the service of violating the requirements of being truthful and impartial. The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) also said that the broadcaster undermined China’s national interests and “ethnic solidarity”.
In Hong Kong, public broadcaster RTHK will also stop broadcasting BBC World Service to listeners, reports suggest.
The ban seemed to mark a tit-for-tat response to the decision to withdraw China’s state broadcaster from its UK license on Thursday.
Ofcom decided to withdraw the broadcasting license from the China Global Television Network, ruling the broadcaster was controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and therefore violated UK broadcasting laws.
Earlier this week, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also criticized China’s decision to ban BBC World News, calling it an “unacceptable restriction on media freedom”.
“China has some of the most severe restrictions on media and internet freedom in the world, and the latter measure will only damage China’s reputation in the eyes of the world,” he said in a tweet on Thursday.
The European Union has joined a chorus of criticism of the measure, calling on China to reverse the decision.
The Global Public Media Task Force, made up of directors of major news companies, including ABC in Australia and ZDF in Germany, said it was “deeply concerned” about the decision in China and Hong Kong.
“These actions severely restrict access to reliable sources of news and media freedom in the region. Access to independent journalism is a basic and fundamental right for citizens everywhere to be informed, ”said a statement.
This is not the first time that China has criticized the BBC’s coverage, but instead attacked the broadcaster’s report on the coronavirus pandemic and human rights abuses against the Uighur minority in Xinjiang.