U.S. calls on India, other countries to also ban RT, Russian media organisations

U.S. calls on India to join in sanctions against Russian media RT, sparking debate on freedom of speech and double standards.

As the U.S. ramped up its efforts to ban and block Russian state media network RT globally, sources tell The Hindu that U.S. officials have spoken to the Ministry of External Affairs about joining their actions against what they call “Russian disinformation”, by revoking accreditations and designating their journalists under the “Foreign Missions Act” . However, while the Ministry has been silent on the issue, government officials said that the debate on sanctions is not relevant to India, while a former diplomat said that banning media organisations showed “double standards” by Western countries.

On Friday (September 13, 2024), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced further sanctions against RT, claiming the media organisation, that has offices around the world including in India, was the “de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus”. RT and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have denied the charge. In an official response, a senior RT editor accused the U.S. government of “paranoia” and “being terrified of any truly dissenting voice”.

The U.S. State department said it had launched a “joint diplomatic campaign” along with the United Kingdom and Canada to “rally allies and partners around the world to join us in addressing the threat posed by RT and other machinery of Russian disinformation and covert influence”.

“We urge every ally, every partner to start by treating RT’s activities as they do other intelligence activities by Russia within their borders,” Mr. Blinken said.

Former Indian Ambassador to Russia and France Kanwal Sibal said the U.S.’s actions to curtail and censor Russian media organisations damaged America’s “own values”, even as the U.S. government said it supports freedom of speech.

“This will be viewed as double standards by the Global South that they are trying to target. India will obviously not be responsive to such American pressure,“ said Mr. Sibal, who has contributed columns for the RT’s RT.com website.

The move, that included designating two individuals and three entities for financial and visa sanctions, follows the general ban by the U.S. and Europe on Russian broadcasters after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022. Last week, another 10 individuals and two entities connected to “Kremlin-backed media operations” including RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly, and Sputnik were sanctioned. The U.S. State department accused them of carrying out “disinformation” operations in the U.S., Germany and other countries and fundraising for the Russian military.