Canadian TV service providers are no longer allowed to carry Russia’s state channel RT after the federal regulator finds programming has been preying on Ukrainians since the start of the Russian invasion .
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is removing RT, formerly known as Russia Today, and RT France from its list of “non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution”.
The CRTC can de-authorize a television service if it finds that the content violates regulations that apply to licensed Canadian broadcasters.
The Council specified that if RT and RT France were Canadian, it “would have asked them to report on their content”.
The CRTC mentioned in its decision that the channel’s content constitutes “abusive commentary since it tends or is likely to expose the people of Ukraine to hatred or contempt because of their race, national or ethnic origin”. .
The federal government had formally asked the CRTC to review the Kremlin-backed broadcaster’s presence on Canadian airwaves on March 2.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the time that action was needed to counter Russia’s lies and misinformation about the invasion of Ukraine, including on social media.
The CRTC has concluded that the Russian government’s actions to limit the journalistic independence of news agencies and direct the content of RT and other public broadcasting services run counter to freedom of expression and freedom of expression. journalistic independence, a key principle of Canadian broadcasting.
Rogers, Bell, Telus and Shaw have already removed RT from their channel listings, which means that to the CRTC’s knowledge, no Canadian broadcaster was carrying it at the time of the analysis.
The European Union banned RT this month and Britain’s broadcasting regulator has launched several inquiries into the channel’s impartiality.
Canada has also imposed sanctions on RT editor Margarita Simonyan, who has been described by the EU as a central figure in Russian government propaganda.
The Russian state-backed news channel was founded in 2005 and broadcasts in more than 100 countries and many languages.
The CRTC requested submissions from broadcasters and the public before making its decision. Only 16 of the 373 interventions were against the RT ban.
The Council noted that “several of them strongly condemned Russia’s aggression in Ukraine” and the impact of these Russian state media on the perception of Ukrainians.
None of the speakers disputed the fact that RT is controlled by the Russian government and contains at least some government propaganda.
Although some have raised concerns about free speech and censorship, the CRTC said Canadians can still access RT online if they want.