The tech giant Google blocked the emails and virtual storages of the pan-African digital media organization African Stream after US State Secretary Antony Blinken accused this media organization of links to Russia and to Russian propaganda platform RT.
Google locked African Stream out of its Gmail workspace on October 1. The ban resulted in the loss of two years of emails and files stored on Google’s cloud, African Stream said in a statement.
“Like other technology and social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Threads, all of which have given us the boot in the last two weeks, Google did not provide any credible reason for banning us,” it said.
“Google did not provide any credible reason for banning us other than saying we ‘violated Google Workspace policy,’ which includes sending spam or using the account for any kind of fraud,'” it stated.
African Stream denies the claims, stating that it has never violated any policies. It accused Google of “censorship”.
Prior to the blocking, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated in September that African Stream was associated with the Russia Today TV channel and referred to the pan-African publication as “Kremlin propagandists.” The State Department’s website published Blinken’s statement.
“In Germany, for example, RT covertly runs the Berlin-based English-language platform Red, a successor to the now defunct RT-linked platform Redfish. RT also secretly runs the online platform African Stream across a wide range of social media platforms. According to the outlet’s website, “African Stream” is now “a pan-African digital media organization based exclusively on social media platforms, focused on giving a voice to all Africans both at home and abroad. In reality, it only gives voice to Kremlin propagandists,” Antony Blinken stated.
“The actions we’re exposing today and the actions we exposed last week do not incorporate the full scope of Russia’s efforts to undermine democracies—far from it. The Russian weaponization of disinformation to subvert and polarize free and open societies extends to every part of the world,” Blinken added.
We conducted a brief research into the citations to African Stream by other outlets. Newsnet.fr, a pro-Russian news website, which has been spreading pro-Russian propaganda, frequently quotes African Stream’s X account.
It’s mostly related to anti-Western content. For example, it explicitly mentions “Western Imperialism,” among other things.
- Source: http://www.newsnet.fr/232434
- Link to: https://x.com/african_stream/status/1688938706210623488
- Quote: “Beyond Niger: How Ecowas Became a Tool for Western Imperialism in Africa. The coup in Niger has made it blatantly clear what an obedient lapdog ECOWAS is for ex-colonial overlord France. “The regional alliance of West African states may as well rebrand as Paris’ enforcer.”
- Source: http://newsnet.fr/art/vous-avez-sauve-julian-assange
- Link to: https://x.com/african_stream/status/1782969487483920694
- Quote: “You have saved Julian Assange. Mumia Abu-Jamal is still locked away in a Pennsylvania prison. The fossil fuel industry is devastating the planet. But they (mass protests) are the most powerful weapon we have to fight back against tyranny.”
The pro-Russian German-language news website manova.news and the pro-Russian Swiss news website arretsurinfo.ch also quoted African Stream’s account.
- Source: https://www.manova.news/artikel/protest-wirkt
- Link to: https://x.com/african_stream/status/1782969487483920694
- Quote: “You have saved Julian Assange. The CIA considered kidnapping and murdering him. They organized the storming of the embassy—sovereign territory of Ecuador—by the Metropolitan Police of London and the capture of Assange. (…) Mass protests do not always lead to success. The genocide is still taking its cruel toll on the Palestinians. Mumia Abu-Jamal is still locked away in a Pennsylvania prison. The fossil fuel industry is devastating the planet. But they (mass protests) are the most powerful weapon we have to fight back against tyranny.”
- Source: https://arretsurinfo.ch/vous-avez-sauve-julian-assange/
- Link to: https://x.com/african_stream/status/1782969487483920694
- Quote: “You have saved Julian Assange. Mumia Abu-Jamal is still locked away in a Pennsylvania prison. The fossil fuel industry is devastating the planet. But they (mass protests) are the most powerful weapon we have to fight back against tyranny.”
In conclusion, the Russian state news agency Tass also made reference to Africa Stream.
- Source: https://tass.ru/ekonomika/19956349
- Link to: https://africanstream.media/
- Quote: “De Beers and ODC opposed the G7 ban on trade in Russian diamonds. African Stream quotes Botswana’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology, and Energy Security, Lefoko Moaga, who strongly rejected the idea of sending African diamonds to Belgium for certification.”
This demonstrates that Africa Stream’s content frequently aligns with the agendas of Russian and pro-Russian websites. However, it requires a deeper content analysis to identify and confirm any potential bias. Freedom of speech is essential, but on the other hand, the operations of outlets spreading disinformation and propaganda about authoritarian regimes pose a threat to freedom of speech as they fill in the information space with biased content, preventing readers from consuming truthful and objective reporting.
Washington launched a major crackdown on RT in September, accusing the channel of “functioning as a de facto arm of [Russian] intelligence.” US State Department official Jamie Rubin blamed RT’s reporting for the fact that much of the world has not sided with Ukraine as Washington expected it to, according to media.
Following the allegations, YouTube terminated five right-wing political channels, including Tenet Media, linked to what the US Department of Justice claims is a Russian effort to sow division in America and influence its domestic landscape.
The DOJ had previously charged two Russians, identified as RT employees, with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), money laundering, and illegally funneling millions of dollars to US-based entities to promote a so-called ‘Russian narrative’ on various politically charged issues.
