Media crackdown: Russia bans 81 European outlets over EU’s ban on 4 Russian channels

About a month after the European Union banned the broadcast of four Russian media outlets for “propaganda” about the war in Ukraine, Russia has now banned 81 media outlets from European Union countries, Al Jazeera reported.     

Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs said that it is blocking the outlets that are “systematically disseminating false information” about Russia’s actions in Ukraine and that it has “repeatedly and at various levels warned” against “politically motivated harassment of domestic journalists and unfounded bans” on Russian media. The statement also reportedly said that the Valdmir Putin-led Russian government is open to revoking the media ban if the restrictions on Russian outlets were removed. 

Among the outlets banned in Russia are Politico, nine French outlets such as AFP and Le Monde, Germany’s Der Spiegel, Spain’s El Pais and El Mundo, Finland’s Yle, Italy’s RAI and la Repubblica, and Irish national broadcaster RTE, among others.

In May, the EU had banned Voice of Europe, RIA news agency, and Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspapers, calling them “Kremlin-linked propaganda networks”.

Complaining about the media is easy. Why not do something to make it better? Support independent media and subscribe to Newslaundry today.