RT (formerly Russia Today or Rossiya Segodnya (russian: Россия Сегодня) is a Russian state-controlled

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

news television network funded by the Russian government. It operates

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

and

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as providing Internet content in Russian, English, Spanish, French, German and Arabic. RT is a brand of TV-Novosti, an autonomous non-profit organization founded by the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti in April 2005. During the economic crisis in December 2008, the Russian government, headed by Prime Minister

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, included ANO "TV-Novosti" on its list of core organizations of strategic importance to Russia. RT operates as a multilingual service with channels in five languages: the original English-language channel was launched in 2005, the Arabic-language channel in 2007,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

in 2009,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

in 2014 and French in 2017.

RT America RT America was a U.S.-based news channel headquartered in Washington, D.C. Owned by TV Novosti and operated by production company T&RProductions, it was a part of the RT network, a global multilingual television news network based in Moscow fund ...

(2010–2022),

RT UK RT UK, also known as Russia Today, was a free-to-air television news channel based in the United Kingdom. It was part of the RT network, a Russian state-controlled international television network funded by the federal tax budget of the Russia ...

(2014–2022) and other regional channels also produce local content. RT is the parent company of the

Ruptly Ruptly GmbH is a Russian state-owned video news agency specializing in video-on-demand, based in Berlin, Germany. It is a subsidiary of the Russian state-controlled television network RT. Ruptly owns the media channel Redfish and is the major ...

video agency, which owns the Redfish video channel and the

Maffick Maffick LLC is a social media digital content company based in Los Angeles, California that has been labelled a Russian state-backed entity by Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok and YouTube due to its connections to German-based Maffick Media GmbH, whic ...

digital media company. RT has regularly been described as a major propaganda outlet for the Russian government and its foreign policy. Academics, fact-checkers, and news reporters (including some current and former RT reporters) have identified RT as a purveyor of

disinformation Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...

and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

. UK media regulator Ofcom has repeatedly found RT to have breached its rules on impartiality, including multiple instances in which RT broadcast "materially misleading" content. In 2012, RT's

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

Margarita Simonyan Margarita Simonovna Simonyan (russian: link=no, Маргарита Симоновна Симоньян; born 6 April 1980) is a Russian journalist. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled media organisations RT (formerly R ...

compared the channel to the

Russian Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

. Referring to the

Russo-Georgian War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

, she stated that it was "waging an

information war Information warfare (IW) (as different from cyber warfare that attacks computers, software, and command control systems) is a concept involving the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a ...

, and with the entire Western world". In September 2017, RT America was ordered to register as a

foreign agent A foreign agent is any person or entity actively carrying out the interests of a foreign country while located in another host country, generally outside the protections offered to those working in their official capacity for a diplomatic missio ...

with the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

under the

Foreign Agents Registration Act The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)2 U.S.C. § 611 ''et seq.'' is a United States law that imposes public disclosure obligations on persons representing foreign interests.

. RT was banned in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in 2014 after

Russia's annexation of Crimea In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv ...

; Latvia and Lithuania implemented similar bans in 2020.

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

banned RT DE in February 2022. After the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and then the entire

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

as well as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

announced they were formally banning RT as well, while independent service providers in over 10 countries suspended broadcasts of RT. Social media websites followed by blocking external links to RT's website and restricting access to RT's content.

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

removed RT from their app store and de-ranked their search results on

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

, while

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

removed the RT app from all countries except for Russia.

History

Foundation

RT's formation was part of a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

effort by the Russian Government in 2005 to improve Russia's image abroad. RT was conceived by former media minister

Mikhail Lesin Mikhail Yuryevich Lesin (russian: Михаил Юрьевич Лесин; 11 July 1958 – 5 November 2015) was a Russian political figure, media executive and advisor to president Vladimir Putin. In 2006, he was awarded the Order "For Mer ...

Andrew Osborn
Russia's 'CNN' wants to tell it like it is
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', 16 August 2005. and Aleksei Gromov. At the time of RT's founding, RIA Novosti director Svetlana Mironyuk stated: "Unfortunately, at the level of mass consciousness in the West, Russia is associated with three words: communism, snow and poverty", and added "we would like to present a more complete picture of life in our country". RT is funded by the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Media, part of the government of Russia. In 2005, RIA Novosti founded ANO TV-Novosti (or "Autonomous Non-profit Organization TV-News") to serve as the parent organization for RT. ANO TV-Novosti was registered on 6 April 2005 and Sergey Frolov () was appointed its CEO. Medvedev - Russia Today 3

The channel was launched as Russia Today on 10 December 2005. At its launch, the channel employed 300 journalists, including approximately 70 from outside Russia.Julian Evans
Spinning Russia
Foreign Policy, 1 December 2005. Russia Today appointed

as its editor-in-chief; she recruited foreign journalists as presenters and consultants. Simonyan, aged 25 years old when she was appointed, was a former

Kremlin pool The Kremlin pool (russian: Кремлевский пул), also President's pool is a group of Russian journalists accredited to regularly cover the activities of the President of Russia and the top Russian government. Yelena Tregubova in her book ...

reporter who had worked in journalism since she was 18. She told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that after the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, many new young journalists were hired, resulting in a much younger pool of staffers than other news organizations.Stephen Heyman
A Voice of Mother Russia, in English
''

'', 18 May 2008. Journalist

Danny Schechter Daniel Isaac "Danny" Schechter (June 27, 1942 – March 19, 2015) was an American television producer, independent filmmaker, blogger, and media critic. He wrote and spoke about many issues including apartheid, civil rights, economics, foreign p ...

(who has appeared as a guest on RT) stated that, having been part of the launch staff at

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

, he saw RT as another "channel of young people who are inexperienced, but very enthusiastic about what they are doing".Shaun Walker
Russia Today, Tomorrow the World

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

, 20 September 2010. Shortly after the channel was launched, James Painter wrote that RT and similar news channels such as

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Mo ...

and TeleSUR saw themselves as "counter-hegemonic", offering a differing vision and news content from that of

Western media Western media is the mass media of the Western world. During the Cold War, Western media contrasted with Soviet media. Western media has gradually expanded into developing countries (often, non-Western countries) around the world. History Th ...

like CNN and the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Dutch Safety Board The Dutch Safety Board (DSB; nl, Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid, OVV, literally "Investigation Council for Safety") is an organisation based in The Hague, Netherlands.joint investigation team (JIT), concluded that the airliner was downed by a Russian Buk surface-to-air missile launched from the separatist-controlled territory, and American, German, Dutch and Australia investigations held Russia responsible. Russian media ( LifeNews) first reported separatists had shot down a "Ukrainian Air Force

An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twin ...

transport plane" with a missile, calling it "a new victory for the Donetsk militia". Later, after it was clear the plane was civilian, offering a variety of theories of how the Ukrainian military was responsible. One theory offered and later discarded by RT was that the airliner may have been shot down by Ukraine in a failed attempt to assassinate Vladimir Putin, in a plot which was organised by Ukraine's "Western backers". (However Putin's flight route was hundreds of kilometres north of Ukraine.)

Disinformation and conspiracy theories

Academics, fact-checkers, and news reporters (including some current and former RT reporters) have identified RT as a purveyor of

and

. In 2010, ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' magazine observed that RT's programming, while sometimes interesting and unobjectionable, and sometimes "hard-edged", also presents "wild conspiracy theories" that can be regarded as "kooky". A 2013 article in '' Der Spiegel'' said that RT "uses a chaotic mixture of conspiracy theories and crude propaganda", pointing to a program that "mutated" the

Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing was a domestic terrorist attack that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Two terrorists, brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs, w ...

into a U.S. government conspiracy. The launch of RT UK was the subject of much comment in the British press in late 2014. In ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'',

Nick Cohen Nicholas Cohen (born 1961) is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He was a columnist for '' The Observer'' and a blogger for '' The Spectator''. Following accusations of sexual harassment, he left The Observer in 2022 and be ...

accused the channel of consciously spreading conspiracy theories and of being a "prostitution of journalism".

Oliver Kamm Oliver Kamm (born 1963) is a British journalist and writer who is a leader writer and columnist for ''The Times''. Early life and career Kamm is the son of translator Anthea Bell and publisher Antony Kamm. Kamm is the grandson of Adrian Bell ...

, a columnist for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', called on British broadcasting regulator Ofcom to act against this "den of deceivers". Journalists at ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' have observed that RT employs Tony Gosling, an exponent of long-discredited theories concerning the alleged control of the world by

Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...

and the Czarist antisemitic forgery ''

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...

''. RT has broadcast stories about microchips being implanted into office workers in the EU to make them more "submissive"; about the "majority" of Europeans supporting Russian annexation of Crimea; the EU preparing "a form of genocide" against Russians; in Germany it falsely reported about a kidnapping of a Russian girl; that "NATO planned to store nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe"; that Hillary Clinton fell ill; it has also on many occasions misrepresented or invented statements from European leaders. In response to accusations of spreading fake news, RT started its own fact-checking project, FakeCheck. The

Poynter Institute The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Netw ...

conducted a content analysis of FakeCheck and concluded it "mixes some legitimate debunks with other scantily sourced or dubiously framed 'fact checks.'" From the time of the 2014 pro-Russia unrest in Ukraine RT has repeatedly been exposed for producing

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

. In 2017, the channel was involved in a fake news scandal about a 'Putin burger' it claimed was on the menu in a New York diner, to celebrate the birthday Russian president, Vladimir Putin. The 'Putin burger' story was quickly exposed as a fabrication, and RT removed it from their site. When caught out in fakes, RT has frequently deleted the material from their site, and made no further comment. In 2022, the Centre for Democratic Integrity (CDI) published a comprehensive report "RT in Europe and beyond" which in detail describes disinformation and divisive activities of RT against European audience with focus on regional editions (French, Spanish, German, British), documenting specific disinformation campaigns. In 2022, Martin Moore and Thomas Colley of King's College London noted that RT's coverage of the 2020 United States presidential election was anti- Joe Biden and pro-Trump, with RT promoting the Trump campaign's unfounded claims that Biden was the head of a "crime family", as well as allegations that Biden's son Hunter made corrupt business deals in Ukraine and China and possessed pictures of underage girls. RT also questioned Joe Biden's fitness for office and promoted unfounded rumors that he could only debate effectively with the use of headpieces and/or performance-enhancing drugs. Following the election, RT uncritically promoted Trump's unfounded claims of electoral fraud, and Moore and Colley noted that in its coverage of the electoral process, RT claimed that the process was "dysfunctional, fraudulent or futile".

Treatment of Putin and Medvedev

A 2007 article in ''The Christian Science Monitor'' stated that RT reported on the good job Putin was doing in the world and next to nothing on things like the conflict in Chechnya or the murder of government critics. According to a 2010 report by ''The Independent'', RT journalists have said that coverage of sensitive issues in Russia is allowed, but direct criticism of Vladimir Putin or President Dmitry Medvedev was not. Masha Karp wrote in '' Standpoint'' magazine that contemporary Russian issues "such as the suppression of free speech and peaceful demonstrations, or the economic inefficiency and corrupt judiciary, are either ignored or their significance played down". In 2008, Stephen Heyman wrote in ''The New York Times'' that in RT's Russia, "corruption is not quite a scourge but a symptom of a developing economy".

Anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism

George Floyd protests and memorial in Iran (8)

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

'' writer James Kirchick accused the network of "often virulent

anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

, worshipful portrayal of Russian leaders". Edward Lucas wrote in ''

'' (quoted in Al Jazeera English) that the core of RT was "anti-Westernism". Julia Ioffe wrote: "Often, it seemed that Russia Today was just a way to stick it to the U.S. from behind the façade of legitimate newsgathering." Shaun Walker wrote in ''

'' that RT "has made a name for itself as a strident critic of US policy". Allesandra Stanley wrote in ''The New York Times'' that RT is "like the Voice of America, only with more money and a zesty anti-American slant".

David Weigel David Weigel (born September 26, 1981) is an American journalist. He works for ''Semafor''. Weigel previously covered politics for ''The Washington Post,'' ''Slate,'' and ''Bloomberg Politics'' and is a contributing editor for ''Reason'' magaz ...

writes that RT goes further than merely creating distrust of the United States government, to saying, in effect: "You can trust the Russians more than you can trust those bastards." Russian studies professor Stephen F. Cohen stated in 2012 that RT does a lot of stories that "reflect badly" on the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and much of Western Europe and that they are "particularly aggrieved by American sermonizing abroad". Citing that RT compares stories about Russia allowing mass protests of the 2011–2012 Russian election protests with those of U.S. authorities nationwide arresting members of the

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...

. Cohen states that despite the pro-Kremlin slant, "any intelligent viewer can sort this out. I doubt that many idiots find their way to RT".. RT America has described journalists as "Russiagate conspiracy theorists" for covering Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Russian journalist, former press secretary of the head of the UN Mission in South Africa, Yuri Sigov, wrote that when covering Canada, Russia Today presents information selectively. This is almost always negative information aimed at fulfilling political orders.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

RT, particularly the former RT presenter Abby Martin, has been accused of being anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian by ''

The Algemeiner The ''Algemeiner Journal'', known informally as ''The Algemeiner'', is a newspaper based in New York City that covers American and international Jewish and Israel-related news. History In 1972, Gershon Jacobson founded the Yiddish-language ...

'' and

Israel National News ''Arutz Sheva'' ( he, ערוץ 7, lit=''Channel 7''), also known in English as ''Israel National News'', is an Israeli media network identifying with religious Zionism. It offers online news articles in Hebrew, English, and Russian as well as ...

. Israeli foreign minister

Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deputy ...

made a complaint to Putin at their official meeting in 2012.

Climate change denial

In November 2021, a study by the

Center for Countering Digital Hate The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is a British non-profit organisation with offices in London and Washington, DC. It campaigns for big tech firms to stop providing services to individuals who may promote hate and misinformation, ...

described RT as being among "ten fringe publishers" that together were responsible for nearly 70 percent of Facebook user interactions with content that denied climate change. Facebook disputed the study's methodology.

COVID-19 misinformation

Compared to RT's coverage of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

for its viewers in Russia, RT's coverage of the pandemic for its international viewers was saturated with

COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagin ...

and conspiracy theories. RT urged domestic Russian audiences to vaccinate and wear

masks A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practi ...

to prevent COVID-19, while advocating against virus-prevention measures on its English, German, French, Spanish, and Arabic-language platforms.

Responses

States

– Sanctions against Dmitry Kiselyov, the head of Russia's state-controlled

Rossiya Segodnya MIA Rossiya Segodnya (; ) is a media group owned and operated by the Russian government, created on the basis of RIA Novosti. The group owns and operates Sputnik, RIA Novosti, inoSMI and several other entities. The head of the organisation is ...

and RT television presenter, have been in place since the 2014 invasion and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea. The EU Council cites Kiselyov to be a "central figure of the government propaganda supporting the deployment of Russian forces in Ukraine". Initially, Russian state-owned media outlets were not banned and continued to be available in the EU, with the exception of Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE) described RT as "actively engaging in disinformation activities" and highlighted that RT and Sputnik are pushing local broadcasters in Europe off from the market thanks to massive funding from Russian Federation. Editor-in-chief

was sanctioned by the European Union on 23 February 2022 when Russia recognized the

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loca ...

and

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...

breakaway states. On 27 February 2022, the EU banned RT and Sputnik from broadcasting in its member countries, following the

. – Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher requested the partially Australian government funded

public service broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

SBS suspend broadcasts of RT and

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

news programming on its

World Watch ''World Watch'', or ''WorldWatch'', is a programming block on SBS, SBS Viceland and SBS WorldWatch in Australia that carries news bulletins from countries around the world. The World Watch service gives viewers the opportunity to see news bullet ...

platform. Fletcher stated, "Given the current actions of the Russian government , and the lack of genuinely independent Russian media, this is a responsible decision." SBS suspended the aforementioned broadcasts on 25 February 2022. The RT channel was removed from Australian pay TV provider Foxtel's listings the next day due to concerns about the situation in Ukraine. – On 16 March 2022, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission banned RT and RT France from broadcasting in Canada. – After failing to obtain a broadcast license compliant with the , RT DE was banned in Germany by the (ZAK) on 2 February 2022. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded with "retaliatory measures" to remove German broadcaster Deutsche Welle from Russia. – Chief Minister

Fabian Picardo Fabian Raymond Picardo (born 18 February 1972) is a Gibraltarian politician and barrister serving as Chief Minister of Gibraltar and Leader of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party since 2011. At the 2015 and 2019 Gibraltar general elections, P ...

requested a nationwide ban of RT on 25 February 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, describing RT as "a dangerous source of disinformation that Gibraltar cannot accept on its networks". Television providers in Gibraltar agreed to suspend broadcasts of RT. – At the end of June 2020, after new amendments to the Law on Electronic Media were made, seven RT channels were banned in Latvia for being under the control of Dmitry Kiselyov who had been sanctioned by the European Union since 2014. Chairperson of the National Electronic Mass Media Council Ivars Āboliņš said they will be asking all EU state regulators to follow their example and restrict RT in their territory. Kiselyov called the decision "an indicator of the level of stupidity and ignorance of the Latvian authorities, blinded by Russophobia". – Linas Antanas Linkevičius, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, posted on Twitter on 9 March 2014 amid the Crimean crisis, "Russia Today propaganda machine is no less destructive than military marching in Crimea". It was banned by the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania on 8 July 2020. The decision of both Latvian and Lithuanian authorities was criticised by Reporters Without Borders as "misuse of the EU sanctions policy". – The National Broadcasting Council banned RT in Poland on 24 February 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. – RT has been banned in Ukraine by the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

since August 2014, following the invasion and annexation of Ukrainian territory. – On 18 March 2022, ANO TV Novosti's broadcasting license was revoked by Ofcom, effectively banning RT from being broadcast. This was taken in the wake of RT UK being funded by the Russian government, which, when combined with their promotion of Russian state narratives with regards to sanctions and its invasion of Ukraine, was deemed a violation of neutrality standards. This came after an investigation was launched on 2 March 2022 in these matters, also involving the invasion. – In September 2017, the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

compelled RT to file paperwork under the

in the United States. Previously, the

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

had referred to RT as a state-sponsored "propaganda bullhorn" and he continued by saying, " network has deployed to promote president Putin's fantasy about what is playing out on the ground. They almost spend full-time devoted to this effort, to propagandize, and to distort what is happening or not happening in Ukraine." RT responded that they wanted "an official response from the U.S. Department of State substantiating Mr. Kerry's claims".

Richard Stengel Richard Allen Stengel (born May 2, 1955) is an American editor, author, and former government official. He was ''Time'' magazine's 16th managing editor from 2006 to 2013. He was also chief executive of the National Constitution Center from 2004 ...

from the U.S. Department of State responded. Stengel stated in his response, "RT is a distortion machine, not a news organization", concluding that "the network and its editors should not pretend that RT is anything other than another player in Russia's global disinformation campaign against the people of Ukraine and their supporters". However, Stengel supports RT's right to broadcast in the United States.

Political involvement

In April 2017, during his successful run for President of France, Emmanuel Macron's campaign team banned both RT and the Sputnik news agency from campaign events. A Macron spokesperson said the two outlets showed a "systematic desire to issue fake news and false information". Macron later said during a press conference that RT and Sputnik were "agencies of influence and propaganda, lying propaganda—no more, no less". RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan characterized Macron's remarks on RT as an attack on freedom of speech. In October 2017, Twitter banned both RT and Sputnik from advertising on their social networking service amid accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, sparking an angry response from the

Russian foreign ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; russian: Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации, МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with lea ...

. Twitter in August 2020 began to identify RT, along with other Russian and Chinese media outlets, as "state-affiliated media" in a prominent place at the top of their accounts on the social media platform. In November 2017,

Alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...

chairman Eric Schmidt announced that Google will be "deranking" stories from RT and Sputnik in response to allegations about election meddling by President Putin's government, provoking an accusation of censorship from both outlets. In March 2018,

John McDonnell John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997. ...

, the

Shadow Chancellor The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The title is given at the gift of the Leader of the Opposition a ...

of the British Labour Party, advised fellow Labour MPs to boycott RT and said he would no longer appear on the channel. He said: "We tried to be fair with them and as long as they abide by journalistic standards that are objective that's fine but it looks as if they have gone beyond that line". A party representative said: "We are keeping the issue under review". In July 2019, the

UK Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

banned both RT and Sputnik from attending the Global Conference for Media Freedom in London for "their active role in spreading disinformation". The Russian Embassy called the decision "direct politically motivated discrimination", while RT responded in a statement: "It takes a particular brand of hypocrisy to advocate for freedom of press while banning inconvenient voices and slandering

alternative media Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or mass media) in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, ...

Other responses

2008–2012

During the

2008 South Ossetia War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

, RT correspondent William Dunbar resigned after the network refused to let him report on Russian airstrikes of civilian targets, stating, "any issue where there is a Kremlin line, RT is sure to toe it". According to ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', sources at RT confirmed that Dunbar had resigned, saying that it was not over bias. One senior RT journalist told the magazine, "the Russian coverage I have seen has been much better than much of the Western coverage... Russian news coverage is largely pro-Russia, but that is to be expected." Shaun Walker, the Moscow correspondent for ''

'', said that RT had "instructed reporters not to report from Georgian villages within

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

that had been ethnically cleansed". Julia Ioffe wrote that an RT journalist whose reporting deviated from "the Kremlin line that Georgians were slaughtering unarmed Ossetians" was reprimanded.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

said that RT's claim of 2,000 South Ossetian casualties was exaggerated. RT covering protests in Moscow on 1012

In 2012, Jesse Zwick of ''

'' criticized RT, stating it held that "civilian casualties in Syria are minimal, foreign intervention would be disastrous, and any humanitarian appeals from Western nations are a thin veil for a NATO-backed move to isolate Iran, China, and Russia". He wrote that RT wants to "make the United States look out of line for lecturing Russia". Zwick also wrote that RT provided a "disproportionate amount of time" to covering libertarian Republican Ron Paul during his 2012 presidential campaign. Writing after her 2014 on-air resignation,

Liz Wahl Liz Wahl (born May 27, 1985) is an American journalist. She was a correspondent for the Russian government-sponsored RT television network from 2011 to 2014 but left the network following a harshly critical on-air resignation that went viral. ...

suggested the reason for this "wasn't his message of freedom and liberty but his non-interventionist stance and consistent criticism of U.S. foreign policy. His message fit RT's narrative that the United States is a huge bully." In a June 2011 broadcast of ''Adam vs. the Man'', host

Adam Kokesh Adam Charles Kokesh (; born February 1, 1982) is an American libertarian political activist, radio host, and author. Kokesh was a U.S. 2020 Libertarian presidential candidate running on the single-issue platform of an "orderly dissolution of th ...

endorsed fundraising for Paul, leading to a complaint to the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

charging a political contribution had been made by a foreign corporation. Kokesh said his cancellation in August was related to Paul's aide

Jesse Benton Jesse Reeves Benton (born October 4, 1977) is an American political operative, convicted felon, writer, and entrepreneur. Benton is closely associated with the Paul family, having served as a campaign manager for both Ron Paul and Rand Paul. He ...

rather than the complaint. In September 2012, UK broadcast regulator Ofcom found that two Libyan dispatches broadcast by RT's

Lizzie Phelan Lizzie Phelan is the managing director of redfish GmbH, a Berlin-based media company owned by Ruptly that focuses on creating short documentaries. Phelan was formerly employed as a reporter by RT, and specializes in reporting as a war correspon ...

in a year earlier were in breach of its code on accuracy and impartiality. The following November, RT was again found in breach of impartiality rules in relation to its coverage of the Syrian conflict. An August 2013 story concerning unverified reports of the killing of 450

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

civilians near the Turkey-Syria border was also found to have breached Ofcom's rules. That December, Ofcom found RT in breach of its standards in relation to the impartiality of a documentary entitled "Syrian Diary" broadcast the previous March. Speaking in 2014 former RT reporter Sara Firth said that there had previously been examples of senior editorial interference, and that she had been pulled out of Syria after some "very heated discussions" about the channel's coverage.

2014

On 4 March 2014, ''Breaking The Set'' host Abby Martin, speaking directly to her viewing audience during the show's closing statement, said that even though she works for RT, she is against Russia's intervention in Ukraine. She said that "what Russia did is wrong", as she is against intervention by any nation into other countries' affairs. Later, Martin asserted that RT still supports her despite her differences of opinion with the Russian government. RTs press office suggested that Martin would be sent to

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and responded to accusations of propaganda, stating "the charges of propaganda tend to pop up every time a news outlet, particularly RT, dares to show the side of events that does not fit the mainstream narrative, regardless of the realities on the ground. This happened in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, this is happening in

Glenn Greenwald Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author and lawyer. In 2014, he cofounded ''The Intercept'', of which he was an editor until he resigned in October 2020. Greenwald subsequently started publishing on Substac ...

said that American media elites love to mock Russian media, especially RT, as being a source of shameless pro-Putin propaganda, where free expression is strictly barred. Agreeing the "network has a strong pro-Russian bias", he suggested that Martin's action "remarkably demonstrated what 'journalistic independence' means". On 5 March 2014, RT Washington, D.C. bureau anchor Liz Wahl resigned on air, blaming RT for propaganda. Wahl stated that what "broke" her was that RT censored a question from her interview with Ron Paul about "Russia's ''intervention'' in Ukraine". In response, RT released a statement: "When a journalist disagrees with the editorial position of his or her organization, the usual course of action is to address those grievances with the editor, and, if they cannot be resolved, to quit like a professional. But when someone makes a big public show of a personal decision, it is nothing more than a self-promotional stunt. We wish Liz the best of luck on her chosen path". In a March 2014 ''Politico'' article, Wahl stated: "For about two and a half years. I'd looked the other way as the network smeared America for the sake of making the Kremlin look better by comparison, while it sugarcoated atrocities by one brutal dictator after another." Liz Wahl on RT America

When asked about a clip of her interviewing a guest on RT by

Brian Stelter Brian Patrick Stelter (born September 3, 1985) is an American journalist best known as the former chief media correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN program '' Reliable Sources'', roles he held from 2013 to 2022. Stelter is also a former medi ...

, host of CNN's '' Reliable Sources'', Wahl responded, ''The New York Times'' op-ed columnist

Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof wa ...

commented on CNN's ''

Piers Morgan Live ''Piers Morgan Live'' (formerly known as ''Piers Morgan Tonight'') was an American television talk show that was hosted by Piers Morgan and broadcast on CNN. The show premiered on January 17, 2011, and filled in the former ''Larry King Live'' ti ...

'' about Wahl's and Martin's initial actions, saying that he "admire their outspokenness but, you know, at the end of the day, RT is a Russian propaganda arm, and I don't think it's going to matter very much to the geopolitical consequences here". Former RT Moscow anchor Staci Bivens, and other former RT journalists speaking under anonymity according to BuzzFeed, said they regretted working for the network, citing their dislike of the network's use of propaganda. Bivens, for example, was explicitly asked to go to Germany and procure a story proving that "Germany is a

failed state A failed state is a political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly (see also fragile state and state collapse). A state can also fail if the ...

". When she refused, other reporters were sent instead. Steve Bloomfield, the foreign editor of ''

Monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string or wire. The other ...

'' wrote that RT's "coverage of Ukraine could not have been kinder to Moscow if Vladimir Putin had chosen the running order himself. While Putin kept up the pretence that there were no Russian troops in Crimea, so too did RT. The storming of government buildings across eastern Ukraine has been portrayed as the understandable actions of peace-loving protesters who fear "chaos" in Kiev". After the July 2014 crash of

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian forces on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Cont ...

, RT rushed to blame others for the plane's shoot-down in Ukraine amid accusations by Ukrainian fighters of Russian involvement in the crash. Speaking of RT's coverage, Sarah Oates, professor of journalism at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

said: "But if you're going to engage in propaganda, you have to do it well. They have completely embarrassed themselves." Sara Firth, a London-based correspondent with RT resigned in protest over the network's coverage of the MH17 disaster. Shortly before resigning, she

tweeted Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, "RT style guide Rule 1: It is ALWAYS * Ukraine's fault (* add name as applicable)". She told ''The Guardian'': "I walked into the newsroom and there was an eyewitness account making allegations gainst Ukraineand analysis, if you can call it, from our correspondent in the studio. It was just appalling, in a situation like that where there are families waiting to be informed and a devastating loss of life." She also noted that "There is bias against Russia but you don't counter wrong by doing even more wrong" and stated "I have always said it's better to have RT than to not have that perspective, but actually with a story like this and the way they misreport it, it's quite dangerous, I don't want to be party to it." In follow-up interview she said: "In Ukraine, you're taking a very small part of a much wider story, totally omitted the context of the story, and so what you wind up with on air is outright misinformation." Calling RT "mass information manipulation", Firth said: "they have a very clear idea in their mind of what they're trying to prove". She also stated that "The worst-kept secret is that RT is blatant propaganda. I'm one in a very long line of people who have left for the same reason." The following November, RT was again found in breach of Ofcom's impartiality rules, this time in relation to its coverage of the Ukraine crisis, specifically events leading up to the annexation by Russia of Crimea. For repeated breaches of its ''due impartially'' rules, Ofcom put RT management "on notice that any future breaches of the due impartiality rules may result in further regulatory action, including consideration of a statutory sanction".

2015–2016

In January 2015, Ofcom found RT (and the BBC) not in breach of rules on generally accepted standards following a complaint about the use of graphic imagery of bodies at the MH17 crash site. Following the March 2015 European Council summit which concluded that action was needed to "challenge Russia's ongoing disinformation campaigns", the

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service and combined foreign and defence ministry of the European Union (EU). The EEAS is led by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), who is al ...

was tasked to respond.

briefing notes on the situation called RT "Russia's main international media weapon". The counter-propaganda strategy subsequently developed by the EastStratCom Task Force, a small group of eight officials, included launching the ''EU vs Disinformation'' website with a headline of "don't be deceived, question even more". In September 2015, Ofcom found RT in breach of the impartiality rules in its coverage of the events in Ukraine and Syria. It also upheld the complaint by the

...

History

Foundation

Development and expansion

2012–2021

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Organization

Budget

Network

Ratings/impact

Followers

Impact

Programming

''The Alyona Show''

''Adam vs. the Man''

''World Tomorrow''

Other shows

#1917LIVE

Programs

Current

Former

On-air staff

Guests

Content

Propaganda and related issues

Disinformation and conspiracy theories

Treatment of Putin and Medvedev

Anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Climate change denial

COVID-19 misinformation

Responses

States

Political involvement

Other responses

2008–2012

2014

2015–2016

2017–2018

2021

2022

Awards and nominations

See also

Explanatory notes

References

Notes

Citations

External links