DISINFO: The EU decision on Russia Today is a step towards self-destruction
SUMMARY
[The EU sanctions on Russia Today] are a bad story. The Americans are forcing Europe to be holier than the Pope. The US has not yet announced sanctions against Russia Today, but it is pushing Europe to move forward. For Europe, this is another step towards self-destruction. It is a pity for our once common civilization, which Russia has saved many times.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about discrimination against Russian media in the West trying to portray Russian outlets as champions of free speech and any criticism of their reporting as attacks on freedom of media and expression.
On 25 February 2023, the EU agreed the 10th package of sanctions against Russia, including the official Russian media agency “Rossiya Segodnya” on a sanction list.
The Russian outlets RT, Sputnik, RIA-Novosti, Baltnews and others, are well-known channels for spreading Kremlin-backed disinformation; several are directly financed from the Russian Federation state budget. Many cases of disinformation published in these media outlets are debunked in the EUvsDisinfo database. The Council of the EU has initiated the process of suspending the broadcasting licences of the Russian TV channels NTV, REN TV, Rossiya 1 and Channel One. In March 2022, the broadcast and distribution of the content of RT English, RT France, RT Spanish and RT Germany, as well as Sputnik was banned in all EU countries.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has examined the decision of broadcast ban (since RT France launched an appeal) and in July 2022, the ECJ decided in favour of the Council.
Accusations of censorship and attacks against freedom of expression are a recurring pro-Kremlin technique to defend the illicit actions of Russia’s state-sponsored disinformation outlets after Western authorities adopted measures against them. Claims of “interference” are also frequently raised to deflect any criticism of Russian authorities by international media.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Washington and Brussels implement an information war against the people of Russia and Belarus, that RT and Sputnik are repeatedly accused without evidence and that Western media suppress all facts and opinions that differ from official narratives.