RT, the Russian propaganda TV channel, shut down in Germany

RT DE Productions, which used to supply the website and RT DE TV channel with news content from Moscow, has announced that it has stopped its journalistic activities in Germany.

According to the officially announced version, the company faced “enormous pressure from governments, media, corporations, and others”.

The German-language television channel RT DE was launched on 16 December 2021 with broadcasts via satellite and the internet. RT DE’s website stated that 24-hour broadcasting in Germany was launched under a cable and satellite license issued in Serbia. However, one week after the launch, on 22 December, the channel was taken off the air via European satellites by the European satellite operator at the request of the German media regulator for the federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg (MABB).

Later, on 2 February 2022, the Commission for Licensing and Supervision (ZAK) banned the broadcasting of RT DE in Germany, explaining this decision by the fact that the channel does not have the broadcasting license in the country required by the current “State Law on Modernisation of Media Regulations in Germany” and therefore “cannot invoke any other legitimate European permit”.

And on 1 March 2022, the EU Council decided to ban the broadcasting of RT English, RT UK, RT Germany, RT France, RT Spanish as well as Sputnik. The justification was stated that Russia was spreading propaganda through these channels to justify the war against Ukraine, which threatens public order and security of the European Union.

Despite such measures, there are still agents in Germany who continue to rebroadcast Kremlin propaganda.