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As Kremlin-backed Russia Today network was expelled and dropped in Europe and Canada after the invasion of Ukraine, RT’s US subsidiary continues to broadcast from Washington, DC
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday that RT, as well as its counterpart, the global Russian channel Sputnik, would be banned in the European Union, calling them the “Kremlin media machine”, adding that the EU was developing instruments to ban of their toxic and harmful misinformation. “Major Canadian television providers also announced last weekend that they would exclude RT from their lineups.
This leads to questions at home about what should be done, if anything, about the green logo store, whose motto as a state-sponsored publication is “More questions”.
Former Intelligence Defense Officer Rebecca Coffler said RT and other propaganda abroad were part of the ongoing cyber warfare that Russia is paying for in the West.
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“They’re not just propaganda in war, in conflict,” she told Fox News Digital. “They do it in peacetime. They are constantly slandering the United States and misrepresenting foreign policy goals… I’m just saying that this inclines equality to Russia when we allow their propaganda channels to air without restrictions. [way]”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, left, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell make a joint press statement at EU headquarters in Brussels on Sunday, February 27, 2022. The EU’s top diplomat proposes to start using EU money to buy weapons, ammunition and other support for Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion of its neighbor. (Stephanie Lecock, photo of the pool via AP)
RT America is not a delicate propaganda of Vladimir Putin 24 hours a day, as it also broadcasts news about celebrities and sports, but the editorial content is undoubtedly distorted to give shine to the Russian version of events. In 2017, the US government required RT as a foreign agent.
RT is a 100% Russian government-controlled channel and its sole intention is to predispose the American population and wherever it broadcasts to the Russian point of view and to present events on the ground as Russians want the rest of the world to see them, so if the United states don’t want that to happen, then it would be appropriate to close the canal, “Coffler said.
RT America probably has a small television audience – the Washington Post noted that Nielsen does not even measure it and the channel is not available to most cable subscribers – but it has many followers on social media, with millions of followers and subscribers on Twitter and YouTube.
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Much of RT.com’s website reads as Kremlin press releases on Monday as “Putin criticizes the West’s’ empire of lies’ ‘and’ No plans to occupy Ukraine, Russia tells UN ‘.” However, the site reports arrests of anti-war protesters in Russia.
On TV on Monday, the chiron of an RT show simply read “DEMILITARIZATION AND DENACIFICATION,” echoing the Kremlin’s line that the invasion was aimed at liberating Ukraine from Nazi rule. The president of Ukraine is Jewish and some of his relatives died in the Holocaust. Last week, journalist Dan Cohen told RT America viewers that it was “absolutely untrue” that Russia was an aggressor against Ukraine, and said that Putin’s portrayal of the conflict as a “denazification campaign” was “absolutely accurate.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a journalistic question during a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban after their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, February 1, 2022 (Yuri Kochetkov / Pool Photo via AP)
(Yuri Kochetkov / Photo of the pool via AP)
Fox News contributor and former national security official KT McFarland disagreed with calls to oust RT America from the country’s airwaves, even for an autocratic government.
“I believe in freedom of the press, even if the press is the propaganda arm of the Russian government,” McFarland told Fox News Digital. “However, I strongly encourage dissident Russians, Ukrainian freedom fighters and others around the world who oppose Putin’s aggression to oppose with their own online podcasts and programs.”
She added that she would also encourage technology and social media companies to help spread their messages in the United States and the rest of the world, but especially in Russia.
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Political media writer Jack Shaffer agreed, writing on Saturday that the United States would be foolish to give RT the “tempting taste of the forbidden fruit” by expelling him.
“Ideas, we generally agree, must fight for themselves, against ‘legitimate’ contenders, extreme positions or outright propaganda. “The government, which insists on looking after its children by approving some speakers and suffocating others, is not doing them any favors,” he wrote.
RT America played out the expulsion of the network in Europe by inviting a “political speaker” on Monday, who called the EU decision “totalitarianism”.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told RT and Sputnik at a briefing on February 3, saying she had not discussed the media with President Biden, but said it was “quite factual” that they were propaganda tools for Russia.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki spoke at a White House press briefing on Wednesday, February 16, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo / Patrick Semansky)
(AP Photo / Patrick Semansky)
“Does the president have any position on the activities, the presence of publications such as Russia Today and Sputnik? … Because in some countries they are seen as outright propaganda tools of the Kremlin. Given that things are quite cold with Putin at the moment, what is the position on the issue? “- asked a reporter.
“I haven’t talked to the president about RT or Sputnik,” Psaki said. “I think it is quite factual to say that they are propaganda tools that work on behalf of the Russian government. I don’t know anyone questioning that… But I haven’t discussed this specifically with him. “
“I don’t think there is any doubt, because we are trying to decipher information that is accurate and inaccurate, it is important for the American people to know that there are publications working on behalf of foreign governments that have an agenda and they do not play a role. of the free press and free media, as you all are, “she added.
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The White House did not respond to a request for comment.