Western governments sanctioned the Russian broadcaster not because of \u201cdisinformation\u201d but to suppress dissenting voices, Chief Producer Dmitry Leontiev has said<\/p>\n
Western efforts to censor RT have nothing to do with alleged \u201cdisinformation\u201d but are aimed at suppressing dissenting voices, Chief Producer Dmitry Leontiev has told delegates at a UNESCO summit marking World Press Freedom Day.
\nLeontiev made the remarks on Tuesday at a UNESCO conference titled \u2018Shaping a Future at Peace\u2019 in Lusaka, Zambia that brought together journalists, policymakers, and digital rights advocates.\u201cWe were banned by all Western countries a few years ago,\u201d Leontiev said. \u201cMore than that, those Western governments coerced social media companies to ban us as well.\u201d\u00a0
\nHe noted that it was \u201ceven more alarming\u201d that Western governments openly pressed African countries to follow suit while threatening to sanction them if they allowed RT content.
\nHe stressed that the sanctions on RT were imposed \u201cunder the guise of fighting disinformation\u201d and never included accusations that the network was \u201csaying anything false.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no false facts we are saying. We are stating information that the Western governments do not like, and they have enough power to sanction us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leontiev then posed the question to the floor: \u201cHow do we put these two concepts together \u2013 fighting disinformation and press freedom?\u201d<\/p>\n
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Phathiswa Magopeni Tshangana, executive director of the Press Council of South Africa, responded by calling for platform governance rooted in human rights, stressing that it must fully account for free expression and media freedom.
\nRussia\u2019s envoy to UNESCO, Rinat Alyautdinov, backed up RT\u2019s argument that Moscow has been systematically drawing attention to \u201cone-sided politically motivated reprisals against the Russian media in the West.\u201d\u00a0
\nHe added that a number of international delegations at UNESCO share Moscow\u2019s concerns over \u201cunilateral Western sanctions that are aimed at uncompromisingly sanitizing information space and eliminating any manifestations of dissent.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In a separate statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the West of total intolerance toward alternative viewpoints and of \u201cimposing sweeping censorship [and] Russophobia.\u201d\u00a0She said violations of Russian journalists\u2019 rights were \u201ctaking on ever new, and often repugnant, forms,\u201d including fabricated criminal cases, threats, and pressure on journalists\u2019 families.
\nMost Western states have heavily restricted or outright banned RT since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, citing alleged foreign interference and disinformation. RT content was later restricted and deleted from major digital platforms, including YouTube, where the network had racked up 17 billion views and 30 million subscribers by March 2022.
\nSpeaking at an event marking RT\u2019s 20th anniversary, attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said RT is \u201conly getting stronger and feeling more emboldened\u201d despite sanctions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Western governments sanctioned the Russian broadcaster not because of \u201cdisinformation\u201d but to suppress dissenting voices, Chief Producer Dmitry Leontiev has said Western efforts to censor RT have nothing to do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t