DISINFO: Russian media sanctioned because of their high quality
SUMMARY
The first two media outlets in terms of popularity in Russia are the two media outlets that were sanctioned by the US because they bear a high quality mark [...], and RT employees are subjected to real persecution, psychological pressure and physical intimidation by the security services of Western countries.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to portray Russian state-controlled media outlets and their journalists as victims of unjust persecution by Western governments.
Russia's state-controlled media are not sanctioned for the quality of their content, but for spreading disinformation and interfering in democratic processes. RT, Sputnik, and a myriad other Russian state-owned or -aligned outlets have been exposed over the last decade for intentionally spreading disinformation and pro-Kremlin propaganda. For an extensive list of a wide range of studies, articles and reports relating to the spread of pro-Kremlin disinformation, see the Studies and Reports section on EUvsDisinfo.
RT's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has also regularly proudly confessed that RT and Sputnik are waging hybrid warfare and a partisan disinformation guerrilla strategy.
Allegations of physical intimidation and persecution of RT journalists by Western security services are baseless and without evidence. Media freedom is a cornerstone of Western democracies. These accusations aim to divert attention from the actual persecution that independent journalists face in Russia, which consistently ranks as one of the worst countries in the world in terms of media freedoms. In the 2023 and 2024 Freedom of Press index, Russia was ranked at the 162th and 164th place out of 180 countries, respectively.
See similar cases that Sputnik tells the truth unlike Western media, that sanctions against Russian state media RT are unjustified, that the US censors its adversaries in all spaces controlled by media companies linked to the Deep State, that NATO is waging cognitive warfare by banning Russian media, that RT is stigmatised because it fights indoctrination by the collective West media, and that RT is targeted because it exposed Ukraine conflict as Western proxy war.