Russian state-media RT barred in Canada over ‘abusive’ Ukraine content: CRTC

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission said allowing RT and RT France to continue to broadcast to Canadians is "not in the public interest."

The commission overseeing Canada’s media has effectively deauthorized Russia‘s state-media channel, RT, calling its content “abusive” towards Ukrainians.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said in a release Wednesday that allowing RT, formerly known as Russia Today, and RT France to continue to broadcast to Canadians is “not in the public interest as their content appears to constitute abusive comment.”

“(RT) tends or is likely to expose the Ukrainian people to hatred or contempt on the basis of their race, national or ethnic origin,” CRTC said.

“Their programming is antithetical to the achievement of the policy objectives of the Broadcasting Act.”

As such, RT and RT France are no longer on the “List of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution,” CRTC said.

Some of Canada’s largest broadcasters have already removed RT from their lineup. Shaw, Bell and Rogers Communications removed RT in late February.

The invasion of Ukraine continues as Russia has clamped down on opposing views within its territory, banning social media platform Instagram and passing a new law that can send journalists to prison for up to 15 years for spreading “fake news.”