RT International

[James2001]

Yes, because we all know Russia insisting it's not a war or invasion, but a "special operation to denazifi Ukraine", that Ukraine are bombing themselves and blaming it on Russia and the maternity hospitals being bombed are being used as the bases for extremists and the supposed pregnant women being carried from the rubble are "crisis actors" is the "real truth" that's being hidden from us ?

Jesus H Christ...

RT isn't "truth from another perspective", it's dangerous lies and propaganda. The whole reason they've been "cancelled" as you put it is because of the lies and justification they're putting out about what's happening in Ukraine. The fact you think they should be free to spread this stuff (and insist it's "truth from a different side") says everything about you, really.

[JAS84]

Yeah. "Denazifying" a country whose president is a Jew? Don't they realise that Jews were enemies of the Nazis? If Ukraine was Nazi, they wouldn't have a Jewish president! :roll:

[ginnyfan]

I expected responds like these. Excuse me for wanting to hear the other side, even if it is pure propaganda. It still tells you something. 8-)

Anyway, as I said before, I don't take RT as a trusted source on the current Ukraine war and I certainly don't believe in Putin's official line/description of this invasion. Nothing justifies this attack.

Still, RT reported on situation in Donbas region, for years, which seem not to exist in the BBC/CNN world. It was also a refreshing and interesting source on many US/UK/Europe issues, giving the other side to many stories.

Finally, if you believe BBC/CNN/Sky etc offer the full truth/facts/info on anything, then.... well, it tells a lot about you..... :oops:

[DavidWhitfield]

Let's leave the snide personal remarks and squabbling there now and get back to the topic in hand please, folks.

[CantGetIn]

Don't think this is mentioned but for some reason listings for RT videos on Youtube were still visible even though the channel itself is no longer accessible, but I just checked Youtube again today and those listings have now been taken down

I noticed even secondary channels such as "Russian Insight" have also been banned. All of these channels were heavily advertised on by western companies up until recently.

[johnnyboy]

I expected responds like these. Excuse me for wanting to hear the other side, even if it is pure propaganda. It still tells you something. 8-)

Anyway, as I said before, I don't take RT as a trusted source on the current Ukraine war and I certainly don't believe in Putin's official line/description of this invasion. Nothing justifies this attack.

Still, RT reported on situation in Donbas region, for years, which seem not to exist in the BBC/CNN world. It was also a refreshing and interesting source on many US/UK/Europe issues, giving the other side to many stories.

Finally, if you believe BBC/CNN/Sky etc offer the full truth/facts/info on anything, then.... well, it tells a lot about you..... :oops:

Society is full of people who want to censor POVs they don't agree with. People cheering on governments and big business to shut down opinions. It's all a little bit...Putin?

May I remind such modern-day book burners that the BBC, Sky, ITV, and most of the press got Iraq 2003 dead wrong? And that the vast majority of government predictions of death that were presented with stern faced newsreaders like a clip from a horror movie from COVID were wildly inaccurate?

As said by my good self in another post, the population should be treated like adults and be entitled to take their news from whatever sources they want. Every news service has its own narrative and I'm big enough and ugly enough to decide which ones I ascribe more authority to.

FWIW, I am triple-jabbed and firmly on Ukraine's side, lest anyone think I should be shut down.

[Mr Q]

I am uncomfortable with governments engaging in censorship, however well-intentioned. I don't think there's any real dispute that RT is a propaganda channel for the Kremlin. And I'm concerned about Russian efforts to spread disinformation and influence/undermine Western democracies. But I also worry about the signal it sends that politicians and civil servants should decide what is and is not "news".

With that said... I have precisely zero concerns about commercial operators that distribute media content (whether TV or online) choosing what they will and won't allow on their platforms. I am also relaxed about state media outlets being dropped as a consequence of economic sanctions, especially when those sanctions are broadly backed by a range of countries. The net effect is still that the likes of RT will be difficult to access, but the process to get to that point is not a deliberate, targeted act of state censorship.

[James2001]

The way it was going, Ofcom would have shut it down even if sanctions hadn't done it for them, there was already something like 15 separate investigations over their war coverage before they were taken off, which doubtless would have grown even more if they'd stayed on air. We're talking about things which go well beyond just "bias" and "opinions people don't agree with".

Channels like RT don't exist for no reason, they're fully aware some people will believe them and it will shape people's opinions. That's the reason it was so dangerous to keep it on air with what they were broadcasting. The Kremlin aren't pumping millions into the running the channel just to broadcast to nobody, or to people who know it's all bullshit. If they can switch only a small number of people to their narrative of "there's no war, just a special operation of denazification" and "the Ukrainians are bombing themselves", and to start painting Zs on their cars, then it's job done.

RT's still out there on their website for people who really still want to watch it anyway, that's not been blocked.

[johnnyboy]

The way it was going, Ofcom would have shut it down even if sanctions hadn't done it for them, there was already something like 15 separate investigations over their war coverage before they were taken off, which doubtless would have grown even more if they'd stayed on air. We're talking about things which go well beyond just "bias" and "opinions people don't agree with".

Channels like RT don't exist for no reason, they're fully aware some people will believe them and it will shape people's opinions. That's the reason it was so dangerous to keep it on air with what they were broadcasting. The Kremlin aren't pumping millions into the running the channel just to broadcast to nobody, or to people who know it's all bullshit. If they can switch only a small number of people to their narrative of "there's no war, just a special operation of denazification" and "the Ukrainians are bombing themselves", and to start painting Zs on their cars, then it's job done.

RT's still out there on their website for people who really still want to watch it anyway, that's not been blocked.

There's no "danger" at all from RT, CGTN, Press TV, and so on being on broadcast TV. It's clear that ginnyfan, Roger Darthwell, and I have more confidence about the intelligence of the people of this country than you do.

Your type of opinion nannying (and that's what it is) sets a terrible precedent.

According to Ahrefs, rt.com got around 250,000 views in the UK in January (in my experience, Ahrefs severely underestimates traffic quite often). According to the Guardian, "RT’s final viewing figures suggested it was reaching only about 79,000 Britons a day and that the average viewer watched for less than a minute – giving it an audience comparable with an obscure satellite film channel."

Would you be in favour of, to protect us from this mortal "danger" we face, the Government blocking RT's website?

Of course, there will be ways and means for the reasonably tech-savvy can get around such a block but at least that'll reduce the risk of Z's being painted on our cars.

[London Lite]

As I mentioned previously about RT, I had no issue with the propaganda channel being on linear tv because like GB News, it serves a niche audience and doesn't have the power to transform public opinion overnight. Remember RT and Sputnik basically pulled out of the UK as it was clear their strategy wasn't working among the masses who prefer democracy regardless of the failings of the UK government.

Social media is more of a powerful propaganda outlet in 2022 than having a British accented presenter in Moscow pumping out the Putin side of the story.

[James2001]

It doesn't have to be an overnight a change, a drip drip change can be so slow people barely notice and by the time they do, it's too ingrained to be able to stop it. I don't think any of the big ideological changes in history happened overnight.

[Sky303]

Here's an interesting piece with some of the people who worked at RT America. A lot of RT America shows worked for young Americans , which is probably why they used out of college people to anchor some things and found anchors and hosts from more trusted spaces, you see in the piece like the former NY Times guy, they were anti-war , talking about prison reform, poverty, they once did a third party candidates debate with the Libertarian, Green Party, etc.. Their news programs likes "in Question" and "The News with Ed Shultz, later, the News with Rick Sanchez, and recently the News on RT America" covered American stories that weren't top stories on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News. Beavins, in the piece, co-hosted their business show which was more consumer focused than say CNBC or Bloomberg. They found a niche in American news TV/media. Seems their employees liked working there, treated well and stuff, and gave jobs to people who were just entering the business and needed something.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/12/busin...an-tv.html

[Mouseboy33]

It doesn't have to be an overnight a change, a drip drip change can be so slow people barely notice and by the time they do, it's too ingrained to be able to stop it. I don't think any of the big ideological changes in history happened overnight.

Sounds like Fox News...

[James2001]

Well, Russian TV have been running lots of clips of Tucker Carlson lately...

[London Lite]

What gives me hope is that with a savvy younger Russian audience who have had 30 years of near Western values, they're not taken in by Putin's state tv propaganda, the issue is with mainly older audiences who still rely on the Kremlin controlled television channels for their news.