Russia’s RT channel may stop broadcasting in the UK, after the British government suggested it be banned due to Alleged misinformation.
It was the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who confirmed the government’s request in the midst of the Ukraine crisis, and after Labor leader Keir Starmer described the channel as a “propaganda tool for the Kremlin”.
After announcing that the Minister of Culture and Information, Nadine Dorries, had already taken action on the matter, Johnson said, “for Ofcom to decide which company should use its veto”.
The British government accuses RT of being part of the global Russian disinformation campaign, which in the current crisis is directly targeting Ukraine and NATO, according to the letter the prime minister sent to Ofcom.
However, former British diplomat Peter Ford and former London mayor Ken Livingstone defended RT news.
“It is appalling. Commenting on the recent announcement that British regulator Ofcom, which is stepping up its ‘oversight’ of Ukraine coverage, has threatened ‘everything is ridiculous’, Ford said, ‘will not hesitate to take swift action when necessary.’
For his part, Livingston made a similar analysis, accusing the British media of bias in its coverage, and admitted that he watches RT every day and has never seen “propaganda”.
“I watch RT every day, I’ve never seen a publicity before,” Livingston said. He went on to compare RT’s coverage of Ukraine with that of the BBC, and accused the state-funded British outlet of failing to provide perspective on the actual territories they were discussing, such as the Donbass.
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