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Germany’s media regulator announced Wednesday that it will ban the German-language TV channel of Russian state broadcaster RT, which was previously taken off air in December.
“The organization and distribution of the TV program via live stream on the internet, via the mobile and smart TV app ‘RT News’ and via satellite must be discontinued,” according to a statement by the Commission for Authorization and Supervision.
Additionally, it said RT cannot “rely on any other permission legitimate under European law.” Regulators said that RT did not have the correct license for broadcasting in Germany — and that the channel had not applied for one.
RT — formerly known as Russia Today — had previously attempted to run its operations in Germany using a Serbian broadcasting license. Its German-language outlets have built an audience that leans to the political far right and is receptive to vaccine skepticism. The “top stories” on its front page are led by a report on COVID-19 vaccine side effects in U.S. soldiers and on a warning by U.S. billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates — a hate figure for anti-vaxxers — on future pandemics.
Last December, RT went live with its German channel, but within days it was taken off air by satellite operator Eurosat and its YouTube channel was banned. German authorities ruled at that point that RT did not have the required licence to operate in the country.
In a statement, Anna Belkina, deputy editor of RT, said that the media outlet will not delete its channels and feeds voluntarily. Instead, she urged all platforms not to be “intimidated by the illegal demands” of the regulator. RT, which is backed by the Kremlin, can seek a judicial review of the latest German decision.
Source: Politico
