Leading international media suspend their reporting work in Russia

Leading international media have announced in the last hours the suspension of their informative activities in Russia, after the Russian Parliament approved a law on Friday that provides for penalties of up to 15 years in prison for spreading what Moscow may consider to be “false information”. .

On Friday the BBC, CNN and Bloomberg announced the cessation of their activities from Russia, and today other media such as Agencia EFE, RTVE, RAI or Radio France adopted similar decisions to protect their informants in the country.

This Saturday, the Efe Agency decided to temporarily suspend its informative activity in Russia from today in response to the new Russian legislation that sanctions with heavy fines and prison sentences the dissemination of information that the Russian authorities consider false about the actions of its Armed Forces in Ukraine. , the calls to adopt sanctions against the country, as well as for “public actions” that seek to discredit the actions of the Russian Army.

In relation to these restrictive measures and criminal sanctions adopted by the Russian authorities, the president of the Efe Agency, Gabriela Cañas, declared: “The Efe Agency deeply regrets this very serious attack on freedom of expression; a blatant attempt by the Kremlin to hide the truth from public opinion.”

It is the first time since 1970, the year that Efe opened its permanent office in Moscow, that the Agency has been forced to suspend the activity of its accredited journalists in the Russian capital.

The public corporation Radio Televisión Española (RTVE) has also decided to stop reporting from Russia. “While the situation created for RTVE professionals by the approval of the aforementioned regulation is being analyzed, RTVE will continue to offer as much information as possible about the situation in Russia and Ukraine, as it has been doing since the beginning of the Russian invasion,” said this Spanish media in a statement released this Saturday.

Germany

The two national German public television channels, ARD and ZDF, have also temporarily suspended their broadcasts in Russia. Sources from the public entity communicated this decision and guaranteed that they will continue to provide “the maximum possible information” about the situation in Russia and Ukraine, while they examine the situation created by the adoption of this new law, signed on Friday by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The German Foreign Ministry also warned that even “private” comments on social networks can have consequences in Russia, due to the new law that provides up to 15 years in prison for spreading what Moscow considers “false information”.

Disseminating “private comments” implies “incalculable risks”, so it must be acted “with the utmost caution”. If you are not willing to do so, it is advisable to “leave the country”, points out Foreign Affairs, in its updated travel warnings about the situation in Russia.

Italy

Also this Saturday, Italian public television, RAI, has temporarily suspended the work of its correspondents in Russia and will offer information on the area prepared by professionals from the network in other countries.

“Following the approval of legislation that provides for heavy prison sentences for the publication of news considered false by the authorities, as of today RAI suspends the journalistic services of its correspondents from the Russian Federation,” the network announced in a statement. press.

“The measure is necessary to protect the safety of journalists on the ground and the maximum freedom of information about the country. The news about what happens in the Russian Federation will be provided, for the time being, from various sources by journalists working for the company in neighboring countries and in the central newsrooms in Italy”, he concludes.

France

French public radio has decided that its journalists in Russia will temporarily cease their activity while they assess the consequences that the new law passed there that imposes prison sentences for the publication of what is considered “false information” in relation to Ukraine could have for them. .

The station France Info, one of those that make up the Radio France group, reported in one of its bulletins of a suspension to proceed with an in-depth examination of the new legislation, which provides for up to 15 years in prison.

Shortly after, its director, Vincent Giret, pointed out on his Twitter account that “Radio France is not suspending its Moscow correspondent. We preserve our correspondents, we are waiting for a legal report and we will decide in the next few days”.

It is a question, above all, of determining whether it also applies to foreign journalists working in Russia.

Radio France, which has seven national channels, is the first French media outlet to adopt a similar provision to that already adopted by other international ones, such as Agencia Efe, but also RTVE, CNN, BBC, Rai or Bloomberg.

United States

On Friday afternoon, the CNN news channel and the Bloomberg agency also announced that they were temporarily interrupting their broadcast in Russia. CNN journalist Oliver Darcy assured on his Twitter account: “A CNN spokesman has said that the network ‘will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps,'” although he did not offer more. details.

Likewise, in a statement, Bloomberg justified this measure by the new law signed this Friday by Russian President Vladimir Putin, “which criminalizes independent information in the country.”

“It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to temporarily suspend our intelligence gathering inside Russia,” Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait was quoted as saying.

United Kingdom

The first international media to announce the suspension of its activity in Russia was the BBC. The British public broadcaster BBC announced on Friday the temporary suspension of the work of all its journalists in Russia, in response to a law that in its opinion criminalizes “independent journalism”.

The approval of this rule has led the director general of the BBC, Tim Davie, to paralyze the work of his employees in Russia until he has analyzed in depth “all the implications” of this legislation.

“The safety of our workers is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs,” Davie said in a note released by the chain.

The public channel stresses that it will continue to offer its international information service in Russian thanks to the work of employees located in other countries.

“We remain committed to producing accurate and independent information for audiences around the world, including the millions of Russians who use our news services,” said the CEO.

The BBC also keeps journalists on the ground in Ukraine to report on the Kremlin-ordered invasion.

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