PARIS — As the world responds to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT is facing renewed scrutiny in Europe.
On Thursday, Poland — a longtime foe of Moscow — announced the country would ban the Russian TV channel.
Within the past few days, European capitals have also ramped up the pressure, imposing sanctions on the TV network’s editor-in-chief. The U.K. has questioned whether the channel should be allowed to broadcast in the country, and French lawmakers formally asked for its license to be removed — only weeks after Germany imposed an outright ban.
A French star reporter, Frédéric Taddeï, also announced he would stop hosting his daily talk show on RT “out of loyalty for France.”
Described in the West as a propaganda tool for the Kremlin, RT — formerly known as Russia Today — is part of an effort to disseminate pro-Russian rhetoric asserting that President Vladimir Putin is a peacemaker and that the NATO alliance is an aggressive warmonger. The Russian ruler has repeated that rhetoric in recent days to justify his invasion of Ukraine.
In the weeks leading up to the invasion of Ukraine, a massive information war unfolded both online and offline between Kremlin-backed news outlets and online trolls and media and actors both in Ukraine and across the West. According to French public radio France Inter, RT France’s coverage of Ukraine was obviously one-sided and biased toward the Russian government.
On the other hand, RT is part of a much wider, decades-long Russian information operation, and prohibiting just one broadcaster might be meaningless or counterproductive, some politicians and experts warn.
Asked whether she was in favor of an RT ban in Europe, Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová told POLITICO in a statement that “it is not up to me to decide, it is up to independent national media regulators … We all rely on the extra vigilance of regulators and coordinated action.”