The media regulator explains that the channel RT DE has not requested the necessary authorization.
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The German media regulator banned the broadcasting in the country of the Russian channel Russia Today (RT) in German, Wednesday February 2. The RT DE channel therefore no longer has the right to broadcast on the website and a mobile application. Launched on December 16, in fact, this German version had already been suspended by YouTube on its platform. A few days later, the satellite broadcast of the channel was interrupted at the request of the German authorities. To explain the new measure, the federal body ZAK explains, in a press release, that “the necessary authorization according to media law” has not been “neither requested nor granted”.
Russia Today is headquartered in Moscow and has a Serbian license for cable and satellite transmission, which RT claims allows it to be broadcast in Germany under EU law. The German decision “it makes no sense”, reacted quickly (in Russian) Russia Today boss Margarita Simonian. She has already warned that her channel “won’t stop streaming” in this country. She also mentioned possible reprisals from her government, believing that the German measure amounted to the Russian regulator “prohibits Deutsche Welle from broadcasting on its own website”what “might be worth a try”.
“This decision leaves us no choice but to take retaliatory measures against German media accredited in Russia”, commented the Russian Foreign Ministry, shortly after. This qualifies the German ban as a decision “Politics”, while tensions are high between Berlin and Moscow. Inaugurated in 2005 as “Russia Today”, the Russian state-funded channel RT is known for promoting the Kremlin’s position abroad. It has grown with broadcasters and websites in multiple languages including English, French, Spanish, German and Arabic.