Media authority imposes penalty payment on Russian broadcaster RT
No more access to Russia Today
Source: dpa
The EU has banned the Russian broadcasters RT and Sputnik. At the same time, a ban on the German-language service RT DE is being negotiated in Germany. The broadcaster does not have a German license, but is fighting back. Now he should pay.
FNothing works in Europe for the Russian foreign broadcaster RT. The European Union has announced a ban on all RT (formerly Russia Today) and Sputnik offerings. According to Brussels, the risk of disinformation endangering the stability and security of the Union is too great. In addition, RT now has to pay a fine in Germany because the broadcaster has been broadcasting its program without a broadcasting license in recent months. This was announced by the responsible media authority Berlin-Brandenburg (MABB) on Saturday.
But one after anonther. The EU ban on RT and Sputnik is formally based on economic sanctions. There has never been a comparable case in the European Union. In this case, the individual members of the EU have not had to take any action themselves – the companies that were previously responsible for the distribution of content from RT and Sputnik were asked to terminate their services immediately.
Since then, the offers have largely been turned off and no longer accessible. The “RT Radio” app can still be found in the Apple Store, but the program does not appear to be broadcast. YouTube had already taken RT off the platform a day before the EU measure. Such a media exclusion on the part of the EU is an absolute novelty.
Meanwhile, Russia has also found a way to silence both domestic and foreign media, or drive them out of the country altogether. A new law criminalizes the spread of “fake news” (which presumably includes any news that doesn’t conform to Russian lingo for the war). Major international broadcasters are now withdrawing their correspondents, including ARD, ZDF, the BBC, CBS and CNN. Social media like Twitter will also be blocked.
Almost at the same time, the RT DE case is being negotiated in the German media regulator. The dispute has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, but with Russia’s attempt to influence opinion-forming in Germany (and other western countries).
Last year, RT announced that it wanted to start a full RT DE program. That actually went on the air on December 16th via satellite and streamed via the Internet. The responsible media authority initiated proceedings, and the ban on the offer was announced by the Commission for Admission and Supervision on February 1. The ban is justified with a missing broadcasting license from Germany. RT tried in vain for a license from Luxembourg and finally got a broadcasting license from Serbia.
But a license from abroad is not enough for the media authority. And a German license was never applied for. Probably because there are basically no broadcasting licenses for “state-affiliated” stations – and RT is financed by the Russian state. Despite the ban, RT continued to broadcast its program – and filed a lawsuit with the Berlin administrative court. However, such procedures can take time.
On March 1, the MABB then threatened the broadcaster with a penalty payment of “the usual amount” of 25,000 euros. This would be imposed if RT DE Productions GmbH, which the MABB believes is responsible for the program (RT denies this), does not stop the “production and distribution” of the television program RT DE by March 4th. The company has now filed an appeal against this. However, according to the media authority, this does not prevent the fine from being imposed.
The MABB announced on Saturday that the live stream from RT DE was still available “on various websites” on March 5 (which ultimately also means that the EU ban does not seem to be fully effective either). The fine is to be paid by March 16. At the same time, according to a statement, the media authority is threatening another fine of 40,000 euros if broadcasting is not completely stopped by March 16.
The MABB also announced that the mail to RT could no longer be delivered electronically via a “lawyer’s mailbox”. According to this information, the law firm that has previously represented RT DE Productions GmbH resigned its mandate on March 4th. Now you have to send the relevant documents by post. RT has yet to comment.