Moldova and France ban the broadcasting of Russian TV channels

The French Council of State suspended the decision of the French media regulator Arcom, which refused to ban the broadcast of Russian propaganda channels by the French satellite operator Eutelsat. Now Eutelsat will no longer broadcast Russia 1, Channel One, and NTV, Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said.

“When it became clear that the French satellite operator Eutelsat continues to broadcast Russian propaganda channels, we began to work to stop this process actively. From negotiations with French ministers to publications in the French media, where I explained why it is dangerous for the French themselves,” Tkachenko said.

Stopping broadcasting on TV channels

The process of stopping broadcasting moved forward when the delegation of the Ministry of Culture met with Antoine Bernard, Director of Advocacy and Strategic Litigation at Reporters Without Borders.

“He and the organization’s Secretary General Christophe Deloire led our initiative to ban Russia 1, Channel One, and NTV via Eutelsat in court,” the Minister added.

As a result, Reporters Without Borders won the court case.

Moldova supported the idea of banning the channels

Moldova also suspended the broadcasting licenses of six media outlets – First in Moldova, RTR Moldova, Accent TV, NTV-Moldova, TV-6, and Orhei TV.

This decision was made by the Emergency Situations Commission of the Government of Moldova to “protect the national information space and prevent the risk of disinformation through the dissemination of false information or attempts to manipulate public opinion.”

It is noted that the licenses of the channels were suspended based on the list of individuals and legal entities subject to international sanctions, as well as numerous conclusions of the Council on Television and Radio for the lack of reliable information in the coverage of the war in Ukraine.

These media outlets have repeatedly violated the Audiovisual Services Code by biased coverage of events in Moldova itself and events related to Russia’s war against Ukraine, Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilica said. 

Almost ten months after the outbreak of the war in the neighboring country, the propaganda in Moldova has not stopped but, on the contrary, has intensified, the Moldovan prime Minister added.

President Sandu supported the position of the government

President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, supported the position of the government. Chisinau’s priority is preserving peace and stability in the country, she said. The protection of the national information space is “an important step to prevent destabilization attempts by persons under international sanctions,” the head of state explained.

By the way, Lithuania obliged Russian Dozhd to explain what its employees would do after the TV channel was deprived of its broadcasting license in this country.