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As the Kremlin-backed Russia Today network is banished and dropped in Europe and Canada following the invasion of Ukraine, the American affiliate of RT continues to broadcast from Washington, D.C.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday that RT, as well as fellow global Russian outlet Sputnik, would be banned in the European Union, calling them the "Kremlin's media machine" and adding the EU was "developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation." Major Canadian television providers also announced this past weekend that they would drop RT from their lineups.
It's leading to questions at home about what should be done, if anything, about the green-logoed network whose motto as a state-backed news organ is "Question More."
Former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Rebekah Koffler said RT and other propaganda abroad were part of the permanent cyber warfare Russia wages on the West.
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"They don't just wage propaganda in a time of war, during a conflict," she told Fox News Digital. "They wage it during peacetime. They constantly malign the United States and misrepresent foreign policy objectives … I'm just saying that tilts the level playing field towards Russia when we allow their propaganda channels to broadcast in an unfettered [way]."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, left, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell make a joint press statement at EU headquarters in Brussels, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. The European Union's top diplomat is proposing to begin using EU money to buy weapons, ammunition and other support to Ukraine in response to Russia's invasion of its neighbor. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
RT America isn't unsubtle pro-Vladimir Putin propaganda 24 hours a day, as it also airs celebrity and sports news, but the editorial content unquestionably skews to put a shine on a Russian version of events. In 2017, the U.S. government required RT to register as a foreign agent.
"RT is 100% a Russia government-controlled channel and its sole intent is to predispose the American population and wherever they are broadcasting towards the Russian point of view and to present the events on the ground as the Russians want the rest of the world to see them, so if the United States did not want that to happen then it would be appropriate to shut down the channel," Koffler said.
RT America likely has a tiny television audience – the Washington Post noted Nielsen doesn't even measure it and the channel isn't available on most cable subscriptions – but it has a large social media following, with millions of followers and subscribers on Twitter and YouTube.
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Much of RT.com's website reads like Kremlin press releases, with headlines Monday like, "Putin slams West’s ‘empire of lies’," and "No plans to occupy Ukraine, Russia tells UN." The website did report on arrests of anti-war protesters in Russia, however.
On television on Monday, one RT show's chyron simply read, "DEMILITARIZE AND DENAZIFY," repeating the Kremlin line that the invasion was meant to free Ukraine from Nazi rule. Ukraine's president is Jewish and some of his relatives died in the Holocaust. Last week, journalist Dan Cohen told RT America viewers it was "absolutely false" that Russia was the aggressor toward Ukraine and said Putin's depiction of the conflict as a "denazification campaign" was "absolutely accurate."
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a journalist's question during a joint news conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban following their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP) (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)
Fox News contributor and former national security official KT McFarland disagreed with calls to yank RT America from the country's airwaves, even for an autocratic government mouthpiece.
"I believe in freedom of the press, even if the press outlet is the propaganda arm of the Russian government," McFarland told Fox News Digital. "However, I strongly encourage dissident Russians, Ukrainian freedom fighters and others around the world who are standing up to Putin's aggression to counter with their own online podcasts and programming."
She added she would also encourage tech and social media companies to help get their messages out in the United States and the rest of the world, but particularly in Russia.
Politico media writer Jack Shafer agreed, writing Saturday that the U.S. would be foolish to give RT the "enticing flavor of forbidden fruit" by banishing it.
"Ideas, we generally agree, must fight for themselves, against ‘legitimate’ contenders, fringe positions or outright propaganda. The government that insists on babysitting its citizens by endorsing some speakers and throttling others, is doing them no favor," he wrote.
RT America played up the network's banishment in Europe, inviting on a "political lecturer" Monday who called the EU's decision "totalitarianism."
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki addressed RT and Sputnik in a briefing on Feb. 3, saying she hadn't discussed the outlets with President Biden but said it was "pretty factual" that they were propaganda tools for Russia.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
"Does the President have any position on the activity, the presence of outlets like Russia Today and Sputnik? … Because in some countries, they’re seen as out-and-out propaganda tools of the Kremlin. Given that things are fairly frosty with Putin right now, what’s the position on that?" a reporter asked.
"I have not spoken with the President about RT or Sputnik," Psaki said. "I think it’s pretty factual to say they are tools of propaganda who work on behalf of the Russian government. I don’t know that anyone would question that … But I have not discussed that with him specifically."
"I think there’s no question, as we’re trying to decipher information that’s accurate and inaccurate, it’s important for the American people to know that there are outlets working on behalf of foreign governments who have an agenda, and they’re not playing the role of free press and free media as you all are," she added.
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The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.
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