JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kremlin-Backed Media Outlets Face Growing Global Crackdown” – WSJ
“DirecTV said Tuesday it will drop RT, as rival Dish weighs options; Europe unveiled wide-ranging sanctions on Russian outlets.”
“RT and other Russia-backed media outlets are facing an unprecedented squeeze in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as pay TV operators and tech platforms [globally] … take steps to curtail their reach. DirecTV said … it would drop RT … Canadian telecommunications operators such as Shaw Communications and Telus Optik TV removed RT … as did Australia’s Foxtel. Technology platforms including Alphabet Inc.’s … YouTube, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc., [and] TikTok have moved to restrict access to [RT] … in Europe, following requests from the EU and European governments. Meta said … it was beginning to demote RT world-wide and make viewing … more difficult. Streaming distributor Roku Inc. … [is] removing RT from its channel store …. The [EU] announced … fuller … sanctions against RT and fellow Kremlin-backed outlet Sputnik … applied to all cable, satellite and web services. ‘We all stand for freedom of speech, but it cannot be abused to spread war propaganda,’ said Věra Jourová, a vice president of the [EU’s] European Commission ….”
Click here for: “Kremlin-Backed Media Outlets Face Growing Global Crackdown; DirecTV said Tuesday it will drop RT, as rival Dish weighs options; Europe unveiled wide-ranging sanctions on Russian outlets” – Wall Street Journal/ Keach Hagey, Lillian Rizzo