A campaigning group opposed to Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of Sky is threatening a legal challenge to the media regulator’s ruling that the broadcaster would remain “fit and proper” to hold a UK licence if it was snapped up by 21st Century Fox.
Activist group Avaaz has hired lawyers and launched the first steps of a judicial review against the communications regulator following its report into the £11.7bn bid by Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox for the 61% of Sky it does not already own.
Solicitors representing the group have issued a letter before claim to Ofcom, to which the watchdog has 14 days to respond before a formal judicial review can begin.
It comes after the government asked the regulator earlier this month to provide further advice before culture secretary Karen Bradley decides whether the proposed tie-up should face an in-depth investigation.
Ofcom told the secretary of state in June that the takeover attempt raised “public interest concerns” and she could refer the deal to the Competition and Markets Authority for a fuller investigation on the grounds of media plurality.
However, a separate report by Ofcom cleared the Murdochs as “fit and proper” owners of Sky.
Alex Wilks, the Avaaz campaign director, said: “Ofcom’s made mistake after mistake in deciding to give the Murdochs a clean bill of health to take over more of our media. They need to reopen their investigation to regain credibility.”
Avaaz claims the watchdog’s decision not to rule against the deal when it came to the UK broadcasting licence was based on “exaggerated fears of the consequences of doing so”.
The activist group alleged Ofcom had set too high a bar for finding 21st Century Fox “unfit and improper” to hold a licence.
It also claimed the regulator had made errors when assessing 21st Century Fox’s compliance with the UK broadcasting code, drew “wrong conclusions” from allegations of sexual and racial harassment at Fox News, and ignored the role James Murdoch would play as chief executive of 21st Century Fox.
Bradley asked Ofcom for more analysis after her department received new submissions on the takeover, including from Avaaz and MPs including former Labour leader and longtime Murdoch critic Ed Miliband.
Opponents of the deal have urged the government and Ofcom to deepen their investigation into the Murdoch family’s suitability to buy Sky because of allegations that Fox News had colluded with the White House on a story that contained fabricated quotes.
Rupert Murdoch has piled pressure on Bradley, saying her treatment of the bid will prove a test case for how far Britain is “open for business”.
His approach comes after his last attempt at taking over the business through News Corporation in 2011. The bid faced opposition from media industry rivals and politicians before it was scuppered by acute pressure on the company, brought about by phone-hacking claims involving News International.
An Ofcom spokesman said: “We can confirm that we’ve received a further letter from Avaaz in relation to our ‘fit and proper’ decision of 29 June.
We will respond to the letter in due course.”
Bradley said last month that she was “still minded” to refer the takeover bid to the CMA.
