Liz Truss says ban on Russia Today risks Kremlin crackdown on the BBC
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned that if the UK bans Russia Today then the BBC could be banned from Russia amid fears of a Kremlin crackdown.
She said: “We want the Russian population to hear the truth about what Vladimir Putin is doing”.
It comes after calls in the UK that the state-controlled Russian TV network should be axed from British air waves, with media regulator Ofcom looking into its impartiality.
“It is essential that the UK looks to limit Russia’s ability to spread their propaganda at home,” she added.
Last week Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries told Ofcom that the channel “is demonstrably part of Russia’s global disinformation campaign” during the Ukraine crisis.
This is backed by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer who said last week: “Putin’s campaign of misinformation should be tackled, and Russia Today should be prevented from broadcasting its propaganda around the world”, he told Parliament, following Russian troops advancing into the country’s east.
As reported by Reuters, the media watchdog Ofcom have launched 15 investigations into the output of Russian-backed television channel RT over the impartiality of its coverage of the invasion of Ukraine.
It said the investigations relate to 15 editions of the hourly News programme broadcast on RT on 27 February 2022 between 05:00 and 19:00.
However, Russian officials have already warned that it would retaliate if any severe measures were brought in by the West; this has caused concerns about too stringent measures.
The European Union have also proposed banning RT and news agency Sputnik yesterday to prevent what it said was Russian propaganda.