THIS MESSAGE (MATERIAL) IS CREATED AND (OR) DISTRIBUTED BY A FOREIGN MASS MEDIA PERFORMING THE FUNCTIONS OF A FOREIGN AGENT AND (OR) A RUSSIAN LEGAL ENTITY PERFORMING THE FUNCTIONS OF A FOREIGN AGENT.
The German media regulator has said that the Russian state television channel RT has started live broadcasting without a license, so it should be stopped. This was announced by the Berlin Broadcasting Authority in a statement.
German media regulators filed a case against Russian state broadcaster RT for broadcasting live in Germany without a license last Friday. Eva Flecken, director of media management for Berlin and Brandenburg, said that RT’s German subsidiary did not request or receive a license from its management. The actions of the regulator may result in a fine of up to 500 thousand euros. At the same time, RT can appeal this decision in court.
The regulator also reports that “RT’s German affiliate hoped to bypass German regulators with a Serbian license.”
RT Deputy Editor-in-Chief Anna Belkina said that RT DE Productions will appeal this ban in court, and the channel itself will continue its broadcasts from the capital.
In December last year, YouTube blocked the new Russia Today channel right on the day of the launch of broadcasting in German for “bypassing the restrictions imposed on RT DE in September.” The blocking occurred the day after the High Court of Berlin sentenced Russian Vadim Krasikov (Sokolov), accused of murdering former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, to life in prison. After that, Berlin declared two employees of the Russian embassy persona non grata.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry commented on the decision of the Commission for Licensing and Supervision of Germany to issue an order to stop satellite and other broadcasting of RT DE. They pointed out that the German side was repeatedly indicated the unacceptability of exerting “politically conditioned pressure” on the Russian media operator. The department recalled that if Berlin refuses to find a constructive solution to this problem, countermeasures will be taken.
“This step deprives us of any other choice but to start implementing retaliatory measures against German media accredited in Russia, as well as Internet intermediaries who arbitrarily and unreasonably deleted the channel’s accounts from their platforms,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Source: Rosbalt
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
