Ofcom revoked the Russian-backed television channel RT’s licence to broadcast in the UK with immediate effect. The decision made it almost impossible for it to return to the country’s airwaves. RT faced 29 investigations by Ofcom into specific breaches of British impartiality rules over its coverage of the war in Ukraine. Ofcom said it instead made the quick decision to revoke RT’s licence because of Russia’s introduction of laws that criminalised journalistic output that departed from the Russian state’s narrative, “especially in relation to the invasion of Ukraine”. A spokesperson for RT said it still hoped to reach British audiences online but the channel “has come under immense pressure as part of a concerted effort to stifle alternative voices in news”. Ofcom said it had taken concerns about freedom of expression into account but it concluded that the decision to immediately revoke RT’s licence was a “proportionate and necessary” move in a democratic society.
(International press freedom groups including IPI have expressed concerns about bans against Russian media RT and Sputnik. Read our full statement here)