The idea of a TV channel being forced to close by the collective weight of Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries seems abhorrent to any liberal supporter of a free media at first sight, Najah Alotaibi wrote to Al Arabiya. But is there any merit in the accusations and demands of the GCC?

Al Jazeera – the first apparently non-obsequious Arab news channel – has much to be praised on the surface. Most observers acknowledge the station in its Arabic and English versions is a tool of Qatar to launch itself as a powerful international player. But there a more sinister, less liberal, side to this so-called beacon of press freedom.

Let’s look at some facts. The Qatari government owned TV station prides itself as being a champion and promoter of human rights in a region more known for a slavish adherence and non-questioning of human rights violations.

So where, for example, does Al Jazeera stand on reporting about multiple deaths of migrant workers working on the showpiece stadia and accommodation for the much feted – and controversial – 2022 World Cup? At last count 1,200 people have died. Coverage on Al Jazeera? Zero.

Research shows that this is a story that has attracted little interest on Al Jazeera at all. There has been no criticism of the appallingly high number of deaths. And no criticism of the government handling of the issue. Surely this a violation of free speech. Such a story in any other liberal democracy would have been front-page news.

When Britain decided in the 1980s to ban the broadcast of IRA spokesman at the height of the troubles – it caused national – (and international) outrage. Gerry Adams and other members of Sinn Fein were allowed to be filmed gold fishing but their voices were never heard.