The government that insists on babysitting its citizens by endorsing some speakers and throttling others, is doing them no favor. Ideas, we generally agree, must fight for themselves, against “legitimate” contenders, fringe positions or outright propaganda. But we don’t ask our government to ban the outlets that discuss and disseminate these wacky ideas, even if a foreign government endorses them in their broadcasts. The case for restricting RT in countries that respect free speech is what? People allow themselves to be seduced by all sorts of media nonsense - the QAnon lunacy, for example, or the teachings of the Modern Monetary Theorists. At this point, if you don’t realize RT is Russia’s sometimes subtle, other times overt propaganda channel, you haven’t been paying attention. government or public on behalf of foreign principals,” said America’s acting assistant attorney general at the time. “Americans have a right to know who is acting in the United States to influence the U.S. government made what was obvious formal when it forced RT to register its activities under the Foreign Agent Registration Act. for almost two decades in one form or another, has long been recognized for what it is: the voice of the Russian government. Presently, a featured article on the RT website regurgitates Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lies about the crisis and invasion (“Russian Military Attack On Ukraine: How We Got There”). Not every story doled out by RT tastes like something grown in the Russian Ministry of Information garden, but you don’t have to look very far to find such fare. That RT, which has a broadcast and web presence internationally, including the United States, might be buffing the news with Kremlin polish comes as no surprise: The outlet has always grovelingly toed the Russian government’s line in its reporting and commentaries. Using a similar argument, Germany and Poland have already banned RT from their airwaves, and French legislators are advocating the lifting of RT’s broadcast license. Prime Minister Boris Johnson wasn’t actually planning an RT ban, he said, but added that the regulator should “take any appropriate action,” which could be read as a go-ahead. So too, apparently, does the British government, which earlier this week asked state media regulator Ofcom to investigate the Russia-controlled RT television channel for disseminating “harmful disinformation” about the Russia-Ukraine clash. The Ukrainians obviously want to evict some Russians. Jack Shafer is Politico ’s senior media writer.
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