European justice confirms the suspension of the RT France channel, Russia threatens Western media with reprisals

This was one of the first sanctions in response to the launch of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: since March 2, Russian state media Sputnik and RT (formerly Russia Today), accused of “disinformation”, are prohibited from distribution in the European Union. European justice rejected, Wednesday July 27, a request for cancellation of this suspension on the part of RT France, the French branch of this media. Russia reacted by threatening the Western media with retaliation.

The Court of Justice of the EU, in its judgment, considers that the prohibition “temporary” from RT France does not “not in question” freedom of speech “as is”as estimated by the Russian media, and that she is “proportionate” with the aim of avoiding the “propaganda” linked to “Ukrainian military aggression”.

RT France was the only branch of RT hosted in a European Union country. Although blocked from France, it continues to broadcast and publish articles in French.

“We will take similar pressure measures targeting Western media working in our country”warned Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “We are not going to let them work in our country either”.

Since the start of the war, on February 24, Moscow has notably blocked several Western media sites (BBC, Die Welt, RFI, Deutsche Welle, etc.). In May, Russia reacted to the ban on RT in Canada by closing the Moscow bureau of Canadian radio and television CBC/Radio-Canada.

Many foreign media have also ceased their work in Russia on their own for fear of reprisals or legal sanctions, because of laws that punish heavy prison sentences for allegedly false information about the Russian army.