Russia Today is in trouble in Germany and France.
In Germany, the Kremlin’s propaganda channels from the Russia Today group will not operate. The decision was announced by die medienanstalten, the regulator of German state media.
According to a statement on the regulator’s website, the Media Licensing and Supervision Commission banned RT DE (Russia Today Deutschland) from broadcasting in the country on 1 February. Both via the internet and satellites.
RT DE was not granted a license to broadcast in Germany (the state regulator made this decision on February 1). But surprisingly, the Russian broadcaster did not apply for it either.
Here is an interesting fact: Previously, German-language RT broadcast its programs in Germany on the basis of a license issued in a friendly country to Russia – Serbia.
But German law does not allow such a thing if the company’s office is located on its territory (and it is in Berlin).
In addition, French media regulator Arcom has launched an investigation into news reports by the Russian TV channel RT France. This was reported by the French magazine Challenges.
According to the reports, several associations reported “omissions” in the coverage of crises, such as the so-called “yellow waistcoats” or the situations in Syria and the Central African Republic.
Arcom representatives requested clarification from the regulator but have not yet received a reply.