UK BROADCAST REGULATOR FIRES SHOT ACROSS THE BOWS OF RT
▶ Kremlin-affiliated media outlet feels heat as Russian diplomats are kicked out over Salisbury poisoning
There is a sense of panic at the London headquarters of the Russian broadcaster RT.
“Today is especially busy,” the receptionist at Millbank Tower says. “You can’t come in without an appointment.”
The River Thames flows past less than a hundred metres away as British Prime Minister Theresa May’s face pops up on the lobby’s multiple television screens.
She is just down the road in the Palace of Westminster, announcing the expulsion of more than 20 Russian diplomats from the UK after of the poisoning of a Russian double agent in Salisbury.
Since the poisoning of a Russian double agent more than a week ago in the cathedral city of Salisbury, Wiltshire, attention has mounted on RT, the broadcaster formerly known as Russia Today.
Since the poisoning, concerns about the network have been voiced in the House of Commons.
A number of MPs, including members of the ruling Conservative and majority opposition Labour parties, have drawn criticism for appearing on, and accepting payment from, the channel.
To its critics, RT is a purveyor of Russian state propaganda, but defenders of free speech warn against any attempt to silence it.
Mrs May said that the broadcaster’s status was a matter for the regulator, Ofcom.
That announced this week that it had written to RT to say it was conducting a review of the station’s broadcasting licence.
“This letter explained that, should the UK authorities determine that there was an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the UK, we would consider this relevant to our ongoing duty to be satisfied that RT is fit and proper.”
The regulator would “carry out our independent fit and proper assessment on an expedited basis”, it said.
Charlie Beckett, a professor at LSE, said: “It would be an appalling precedent for our government to take action against a news organisation that has not broken any laws – regulation is a different matter, but it is up to Ofcom to decide on that.
“The last thing we want is for our government or any other to take punitive actions against media organisations because of the actions of their governments or citizens. RT is the Russian state broadcaster with clear links to the Kremlin. It often fails to match the standards we would expect of the BBC, for example,” he told The National.
In a debate on the poisoning on Monday, Labour MP Chris Bryant asked the House of Commons: “Can we just stop Russia Today just broadcasting its propaganda in this country?”
Labour Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, who has appeared on RT, questioned its coverage of the Salisbury poisoning. “I’ve been looking overnight at some of what’s happening in terms of changes in coverage on Russian television, in particular, and I think we have to step back now.
“As they abide by journalistic standards that are objective that’s fine, but it looks as if they have gone beyond that line,” Mr McDonnell said.
A spokesman for RT claimed it was being used “a sacrificial political pawn”, and that Russian officials would see a difference in regulation, and an outright ban, is unlikely.
Sarah Hurst, founder of the X Soviet blog and a former BBC journalist, said that shutting RT could be self-defeating.
“[A ban] would likely involve retaliation against the BBC [in Russia]. There are pros and cons to it as the BBC is more significant than RT. Russians would like to have access to objective news that they don’t get on their TV. Could we really stop RT on the internet?”
“In the end, we have to expect retaliation no matter what we do,” she said.
“I can tell you right now that not a single British media outlet will be working in our country if they shut RT down,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.