UK media regulator revokes RT’s licence

18 March 2022

UK media regulator revokes RT’s licence

The UK media regulator Ofcom has revoked RT’s licence to broadcast in the UK, with immediate effect from 18 March 2022

The regulator says: “We have done so on the basis that we do not consider RT’s licensee, ANO TV Novosti, fit and proper to hold a UK broadcast licence.

“Today’s decision comes amid 29 ongoing investigations by Ofcom into the due impartiality of RT’s news and current affairs coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We consider the volume and potentially serious nature of the issues raised within such a short period to be of great concern – especially given RT’s compliance history, which has seen the channel fined £200,000 for previous due impartiality breaches.

“In this context, we launched a separate investigation to determine whether ANO TV Novosti is fit and proper to retain its licence to broadcast.

“This investigation has taken account of a number of factors, including RT’s relationship with the Russian Federation. It has recognised that RT is funded by the Russian state, which has recently invaded a neighbouring sovereign country. We also note new laws in Russia which effectively criminalise any independent journalism that departs from the Russian state’s own news narrative, in particular in relation to the invasion of Ukraine. We consider that given these constraints it appears impossible for RT to comply with the due impartiality rules of our Broadcasting Code in the circumstances.

“We recognise that RT is currently off air in the UK, as a result of sanctions imposed by the EU since the invasion of Ukraine commenced. We take seriously the importance, in our democratic society, of a broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression and the audience’s right to receive information and ideas without undue interference. We also take seriously the importance of maintaining audiences’ trust and public confidence in the UK’s broadcasting regulatory regime.

“Taking all of this into account, as well as our immediate and repeated compliance concerns, we have concluded that we cannot be satisfied that RT can be a responsible broadcaster in the current circumstances. Ofcom is therefore revoking RT’s licence to broadcast with immediate effect.”

Freedom of expression is something we guard fiercely in this country, and the bar for action on broadcasters is rightly set very high. Following an independent regulatory process, we have today found that RT is not fit and proper to hold a licence in the UK. As a result we have revoked RT’s UK broadcasting licence.

Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom Chief Executive

The AIB’s Executive Committee suspended RT’s membership of the Association on 24 February 2022.

RT issues statement on broadcasting in Germany

9 February 2022

RT issues statement on broadcasting in Germany

RT’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Anna Belkina, has issued a statement on broadcasting in Germany

“It is ironic that just the idea of a new TV news channel with a different voice appearing in Germany has made the local authorities, including the regulator MABB, so nervous and desperate, as to abandon their much-touted principles such as freedom of speech. Today, by once more threatening an independent production company that has nothing to do with RT DE’s entirely lawful and legitimate license to broadcast in Germany and other European countries, it was demonstrated that rules and regulations – including European conventions – and even the semblance of all logic, have been thrown out the window. By claiming that we are not responsible for our broadcasts here in Moscow MABB is ignoring facts, and painting a false reality to suit a clearly politically motivated threat.”

“We will not be removing our feeds or channels voluntarily, and encourage all platforms not to be bullied by MABB’s illegitimate demands. MABB’s actions have no basis in law, and are a clear attempt to overreach and impede the German people’s free access to information, protected under the ECTT (European Convention on Transfrontier Television). Any efforts by MABB to impede RT DE’s fully legitimate and properly obtained rights to broadcast will be met with legal challenge in all applicable jurisdictions, including Germany.”

Germany and Russia go head to head over broadcasters

3 February 2022

Germany and Russia go head to head over broadcasters

Germany and Russia have traded blows over the two countries’ international broadcasters.

On Wednesday 2 February 2022, the German Commission on Licensing and Supervision (ZAK) decreed that RT must cease broadcasting German-language programmes saying it “does not have the necessary broadcasting licence”.

RT DE – the Berlin-based German-language division of RT (formerly Russia Today) acquired a licence from the Serbian media regulator on 17 December 2021. Both Germany and Serbia are signatories to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. Licences granted by one ECTT member state provide the legal grounds for transmission and reception of a licensed service in another ECTT-ratified state. However, Germany says that since the programmes are produced in Germany and not Serbia, the licence does not provide the right for the channel to be received in the country. RT has said that it will challenge this in the German courts.

The following day, 3 February, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation issued a statement announcing that it is closing the operations of Germany’s international broadcaster DW in the country (headquarters in Bonn pictured).

The statement reads:

“As part of the response measures announced on February 2 in response to the unfriendly actions of the Federal Republic of Germany to ban satellite and other broadcasting of the German-language television channel RT DE, the Russian side intends to implement the first stage of response measures:

– closure of the correspondent office of the German television and radio company Deutsche Welle in the Russian Federation;

– cancellation of accreditation of all employees of the Russian Bureau of Deutsche Welle;

– termination of satellite and other broadcasting of the Deutsche Welle television and radio company on the territory of the Russian Federation;

– initiation by the competent authorities of the Russian Federation of the procedure for considering the issue of recognising Deutsche Welle as a foreign mass media outlet acting as a foreign agent;

– launching the process of forming a list of representatives of state and public structures of Germany involved in restricting the broadcasting of RT DE and otherwise putting pressure on the Russian media operator, who will be banned from entering the territory of the Russian Federation. The list is not expected to be published.

Information on the next steps in the response will be published in a timely manner.”

DW has issued a press statement about the Russian move. It quotes DW Director-General Peter Limbourg as saying: “The measures by the authorities in Russia are completely incomprehensible and a total overreaction,

“We have been made into a kind of pawn, which the media must often endure in autocracies. We formally protest against this absurd reaction by the Russian government and we will take legal action against the announced measures. Until we are officially presented with the measures, we will continue reporting from our office in Moscow. Even if we ultimately do have to close it, our reporting about Russia will remain unchanged. In fact, we would increase our coverage.”

According to the press statement, Deutsche Welle has held a broadcast license in Russia since 2005 for its DW English and DW German TV channels. The current licenses issued by Russia’s media authorities are valid until 2025 for DW English and until 2027 for DW German.

DW English is broadcast in Russia via the ASTRA-5B satellite. DW German is broadcast using the ASTRA-4A satellite. In line with the binding conditions of the license, the DW German TV channel has a window for Russian-language programming in its schedule. This programming consists of DW magazines adapted into Russian (a total of 18 hours per week: 2 hours per day, Mon.-Fri. and 4 hours per day, Sat.-Sun.). Several cable TV distributors in Russia also run the Russian-language programming of DW German. They are Rostelecom, Tricolor, Beeline, ER-Telecom, MTS and NetByNet.

Picture: The Foreign Ministry in Moscow

Call for entries for RT’s Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards

19 October 2021

Call for entries for RT’s Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards

RT is now accepting entries for the 2021 Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards, an annual competition that recognizes the best journalism from conflict zones. The awards, now in their fourth year, were established in honor of RT Arabic freelance reporter, Khaled Alkhateb, who died, at the age of 25, on July 30, 2017 while reporting for RT from the frontlines in Syria.

Each winner of the 2021 Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards will, starting this year and going forth, receive a monetary prize of 200 thousand Rubles (or foreign currency equivalent).

For the first three years the award was handed specifically for work from active conflict zones. Starting in 2021, RT has expanded the field of submissions to include ‘Best Humanitarian Journalism: After the War’. Launched in order to highlight the “stories that inspire and encourage”, the video and written reports in this category seek to feature the entire spectrum of experience of communities after the war, intimate and universal alike: the post-conflict challenges and aspirations, trauma and healing, tension and reconciliation.

The Khaled Alkhateb Award is one of the most inclusive awards in the world, with applications accepted in any language, from any country, focusing on any conflict. The award welcomes entries from freelance journalists, small independent outlets and international mainstream, global networks and publishers alike.

The inaugural recipients of the Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards, in 2018, came from Iraq, Ireland and Singapore. Judging was conducted by an international jury of news media professionals and experts on the subject of war and armed conflicts, including former CBS correspondent Philip Ittner and the Association for International Broadcasting’s Tom Wragg. 2019 saw entries from 25 countries. Journalists from Russia, the United States, Italy, and India took top honors for their reports about conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. In 2020, the winners were reporters from Russia, Syria and India.

Find out more and submit your entry at https://award.rt.com/

Russian regulator protests to Google on RT YouTube restrictions

29 April 2021

Russian regulator protests to Google on RT YouTube restrictions

Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor says that it has written to Google demanding all restrictions on the YouTube channel of RT to be lifted.

The regulator says that YouTube has blocked a range of items from the site, and restricted RT’s ability to upload new videos.

The letter from Roskomnadzor notes that such actions by the YouTube video hosting administration violate the key principles of free dissemination of information, unhindered access to it and are an act of censorship against the Russian media.

The Russian regulator has demanded that all all restrictions be removed “as soon as possible,” as well as providing an explanation for the reasons for their introduction.

In its statement on the issue, Roskomnadzor says that according to Russian law, if Internet companies ignore warnings “about violations of the rights of Russians on the Internet, including censorship of the Russian media,” it has the power to impose “administrative fines” of up to one million roubles (about US$13,640). The regulator goes on to say that repeated refusals to comply with its requirements will result in a multiple increase in fines – up to three million roubles.

The RT YouTube channel, checked by the AIB on 29 April, shows no uploads have been made since 24 April 2021.