RT is propaganda. The Kremlin owned, funded and managed channel does not really pretend otherwise.
True, its editor does not like the p-word. She prefers the term “information weapon”. Nato and other defence experts are blunter. The channel, they say, is part of the disinformation wing of the Russian military. And this becomes most apparent, naturally, when Russia is at war.
Only this month the channel reported, without evidence, that the British Government may have staged the poisonings of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury.
READ MORE: Watchdog probes Kremlin TV station which broadcasts Salmond Show
So, RT is propaganda, yes. But should it be banned? For some politicians the answer is obvious. Why would a democracy let the mouthpiece of an increasingly oppressive regime broadcast straight in to its homes?
If only it was so easy. Taking RT off the air in Britain would be a major diplomatic event with huge international repercussions.
Russia, for example, has warned that it would take tit-for-tat measures against UK media operating on its patch. And that might include shutting down the BBC’s Russian service, a lifeline of reliable information in an increasingly bleak news environment. The SNP is arguably the party which has warned the loudest about the channel, despite (or some cynics suggest because) its former leader has an RT show. It warns of a backlash against the BBC if there is a ban.
The body with the RT headache is Ofcom. The broadcasting watchdog is currently investigating what it said was a concerning rise in problematic broadcasts.
But Ofcom also has to decide whether the Russian state - deemed “highly likely” to have tried to poison the Skripals - is “fit and proper” . Revoking a licence, says Ofcom, “is a major interference with freedom of expression”. The standard of proof must be high.
READ MORE: Watchdog probes Kremlin TV station which broadcasts Salmond Show
The regulator is not making its decision in a political or diplomatic vacuum. It has to consider what it calls “non-broadcasting conduct” - whether the Russia state murders people. Formally or not, it will have to bear in mind unintended consequences, such as a BBC ban or resulting Kremlin rhetoric on freedom of speech.
Ofcom says it will give most weight to what the channel actually broadcasts. The issue may be moot. Much of RT’s content is viewed online by a frightening easily duped audience. A TV ban might only free it to be even more outrageous. Propaganda, whatever Ofcom does, is here to stay. So maybe we should focus on how to make our society less vulnerable to it?
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