Why is Russian television allowed to broadcast in the West? - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#15157070
This is an anti-Western propaganda media outlet funded and controlled by the Russian government. It is a national security issue and should be banned from cable companies and other distributors. I support freedom of speech, I support anti-government speech, I support regular Russian citizens saying whatever anti-Western opinions/facts they want. I don't support an enemy government of the West with very bad intentions pumping bullshit into people's homes and phones for the purpose of weakening these countries to score geopolitical points. It's outrageous.
#15157082
Igor Antunov wrote:Close but no dice. Its news segments are an anti-'western propaganda' outlet. Obvious lies about Russia and China and other countries under 24/7 western imperialist attack are debunked.

The Russian government are only out to harm western countries, it's not about "truth" or "fairness", it's about winning. This is a government that is banned from the Olympics because it has systemic government-orchestrated doping programs and has tampered with doping lab data.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-12-09/ ... ver-doping

Then besides the news bulk of shows on RT are cool positive documentaries about random things in many other countries.

Give me a break. :roll: That's like saying "The Russian government sends crates with food it has poisoned, but much of the food is safe, so it should be allowed into the country". RT is a trojan horse and nothing less.
#15157121
Heisenberg wrote:It's always amusing to me when people get mad about Russia Today but have nothing to say about Radio Free Europe or Radio Free Asia.


It could be because noone has heard of them before. It is amusing indeed supporting or justifying Chinese censors on western media but not the vice-versa.

wiki on RFA wrote:Since broadcasting began in 1996, Chinese authorities have consistently jammed RFA broadcasts.[37]

Three RFA reporters were denied access to China to cover U.S. President Bill Clinton's visit in June 1998. The Chinese embassy in Washington had initially granted visas to the three but revoked them shortly before President Clinton left Washington en route to Beijing. The White House and United States Department of State filed complaints with Chinese authorities over the matter but the reporters ultimately did not make the trip.[37][38]

The Vietnamese-language broadcast signal was also jammed by the Vietnamese government since the beginning.[39] Human rights legislation has been proposed in Congress that would allocate money to counter the jamming.[40] Research by the OpenNet Initiative, a project that monitors Internet filtering by governments worldwide, showed that the Vietnamese-language portion of the Radio Free Asia website was blocked by both of the tested ISPs in Vietnam, while the English-language portion was blocked by one of the two ISPs.[41]

To address radio jamming and Internet blocking by the governments of the countries that it broadcasts to, the RFA website contains instruction on how to create anti-jamming antennas and information on web proxies.[42]

On March 30, 2010, China's domestic internet filters, known as the Great Firewall, temporarily blocked all Google searches in China, due to an unintentional association with the long-censored term "rfa".[43] According to Google, the letters, associated with Radio Free Asia, were appearing in the URLs of all Google searches, thereby triggering China's filter to block search results.
#15157123
Well I watch RT. Sure it has an agenda and you have to have the intelligence to ignore that perhaps if you do decide to watch it. But it still has to adhere to broadcasting standards and they can't just make things up. When they get into difficulty and break rules, OFCOM comes in on hard so the fact it has retained its broadcasting license should give you the knowledge they are just broadcasting (selected) news. Besides, general news we still have the BBC in any case. But RT is still relevant because they broadcast news stories that Western media refuses to air and I happen to be interested in. Some of their documentaries are of high quality and you get to see the story from the other side. Distinguishing that doesn't seem a national security issue to me. Distinguishing that would just be a sign that we are burying our ills.
#15157134
RT America on head with the late Larry King was something that made me feel hey Trump could won, in the end euroatlantic determinists were so furious that Trump got so much media coverage by RT that think just coz that they tried to frame him as russian stooge ...

    ... anyway RT became fact-check for the usA choked domestic us-propaganda news that swamp determinists issued foreign agent etiquette [1] but like that they made official media opposition from RT so most of the masses that sees the mainstream us-media as biased will regularly check for second opinion on RT ...

think without RT will not suffer so much usA but eU, tho eg. in North Macedonia is not aired by the cable providers and could be reached only through net or satellite ... as here we are american experiment per'se, yea till the next global economic depression ...
#15157138
B0ycey wrote:Well I watch RT. Sure it has an agenda and you have to have the intelligence to ignore that perhaps if you do decide to watch it. But it still has to adhere to broadcasting standards and they can't just make things up. When they get into difficulty and break rules, OFCOM comes in on hard so the fact it has retained its broadcasting license should give you the knowledge they are just broadcasting (selected) news. Besides, general news we still have the BBC in any case. But RT is still relevant because they broadcast news stories that Western media refuses to air and I happen to be interested in. Some of their documentaries are of high quality and you get to see the story from the other side. Distinguishing that doesn't seem a national security issue to me. Distinguishing that would just be a sign that we are burying our ills.


Reciprocity is the key word. I do not mind RT or other Russian and Chinese providers broadcasting in the west. I watch stuff from them as well and agree that this is my idea about the RT.

But I do mind that Russia and China are not reciprocating the access they have in the west with similar access in their own countries and economies and that does not just go for broadcasting stations but for a plethora of industries.

How do you believe China and Russia can be made to reciprocate not just in this very minor example but more generally if the EU, UK, and US do not remove access of Chinese companies and level it up with Chinese requirements?
#15157142
noemon wrote:It could be because noone has heard of them before.

You're thisclose to getting it. ;)

You're right, most people haven't heard of RFE or RFA before, so it gives RT and CGTN an extra shock value. How can the evil Russians and Chinese broadcast propaganda in our countries? We'd never do that! Except, well, we have been, for the last 70 years.

It's the same with "Russian and Chinese hacking" stories. If you don't make people aware of the rather obvious fact that "our" intelligence agencies have been doing exactly the same shit for decades, it triggers a much bigger sense of righteous indignation.
#15157143
noemon wrote:How do you believe China and Russia can be made to reciprocate not just in this very minor example but more generally if the EU, UK, and US do not remove access of Chinese companies and level it up with Chinese requirements?


BBC world news services is available in Russia and was banned in China due to the UK ceasing a broadcasting license to CGTN for violations. Whether that was justifiable... well perhaps not. Equal retaliation has always been all governments first action when it comes to these type of things so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised here.

Nonetheless it needs to be said that BBC reporters are still allowed into both countries and report on the news there as you are fully aware with the second Navalry protests and Uighurs reports. So in regards to news outlet freedoms and obligations, I would say there is reciprocatility but perhaps there is more restrictions on what is allowed be reported in both Russia... and China especially in regards to what you can show within their territory. But would you want that for the West as it infringes on free speech to ban alternative views just because of where the sponsor is? It does bring forward accountability after all.

Besides, in regards to RT, it is a very minor broadcaster and people really only go there for their documentaries. The news stories are on a loop and mainly on domestic views that aren't shared widely or Russian internal affairs. I wouldn't class them as propaganda because it never attacks western values at all. The do still have to consider OFCOM after all.

I Suppose what I am saying is that removing RT won't achieve much as they don't have the viewers but do have enough influence to make people aware of major news stories that otherwise wouldn't have a platform in the West. So in that regard we don't need reciprocity on broadcasting. But in terms of other things like market access which you alluded to, it is up to the West how much access they what to give China. If they don't feel things are fair, they could do a Trump type trade war to gain some more access if they believe things aren't fair. Trump did get some return on his action here if he performed poorly with everything else.
#15157146
Heisenberg wrote:You're right, most people haven't heard of RFE or RFA before, so it gives RT and CGTN an extra shock value. How can the evil Russians and Chinese broadcast propaganda in our countries? We'd never do that! Except, well, we have been, for the last 70 years.

It's the same with "Russian and Chinese hacking" stories. If you don't make people aware of the rather obvious fact that "our" intelligence agencies have been doing exactly the same shit for decades, it triggers a much bigger sense of righteous indignation.



Beyond stories there is also the reality that access in China is a lot more heavily restricted as compared to China's access to western markets.
How does one approach this without reciprocity as the guiding principle?
#15157148
Unthinking Majority wrote:This is an anti-Western propaganda media outlet funded and controlled by the Russian government. It is a national security issue and should be banned from cable companies and other distributors. I support freedom of speech, I support anti-government speech, I support regular Russian citizens saying whatever anti-Western opinions/facts they want. I don't support an enemy government of the West with very bad intentions pumping bullshit into people's homes and phones for the purpose of weakening these countries to score geopolitical points. It's outrageous.


The OP can also be construed as a critique of our [United States of America] educational system. Broadcasts of propaganda should have no effect upon those whose education included learning how to think and how to differentiate between that which is true and that which is not. [Ed.: Are you referring to a 'BS detector', dude?]

That our educational system has miles to go before we sleep is clearly demonstrated by the present number of QAnon believers.

And so it goes.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.
#15157200
Torus34 wrote:The OP can also be construed as a critique of our [United States of America] educational system. Broadcasts of propaganda should have no effect upon those whose education included learning how to think and how to differentiate between that which is true and that which is not. [Ed.: Are you referring to a 'BS detector', dude?]

That our educational system has miles to go before we sleep is clearly demonstrated by the present number of QAnon believers.

And so it goes.

This is fair enough. However, any state media, whether foreign or domestic, is propaganda BS. The government should not be in the news media business, whether American or Russia or otherwise.
#15157203
noemon wrote:It could be because noone has heard of them before. It is amusing indeed supporting or justifying Chinese censors on western media but not the vice-versa.

Yes exactly. And China doesn't just ban things because of "lies" and propaganda, it bans any media that goes against the party line that could undermine their authority or interests. It's about maintaining power and control and nothing else.

China isn't communist, the proletariat do not control anything, they aren't even allowed a voice, only the oligarchs are. At least in Europe the peasants are free to criticize the oligarchs without getting censored or poisoned by them.

People defend the CCP because it's getting rich. They have 1.4 billion workers and enough of an infrastructure base and political stability to make cheap manufacturing work. It would be getting wealthy regardless. Japan and South Korea didn't need a totalitarian government to get wealthy, just a strong and effective government open to trade and an industrial base capable of innovation. Not much different than the US pre-WWII.
#15157205
Heisenberg wrote:You're right, most people haven't heard of RFE or RFA before, so it gives RT and CGTN an extra shock value. How can the evil Russians and Chinese broadcast propaganda in our countries? We'd never do that! Except, well, we have been, for the last 70 years.

It's the same with "Russian and Chinese hacking" stories. If you don't make people aware of the rather obvious fact that "our" intelligence agencies have been doing exactly the same shit for decades, it triggers a much bigger sense of righteous indignation.

I'm not mad at RT, and I'm not mad at Chinese/Russian hackers. I'm much more mad at western governments for allowing it. China has every right to jam RFA broadcasts and the US has every right to broadcast them. The West should be acting in its own interests against foreign governments that mean them harm. Russia and China are free to do the same, and they always do. China would never allow an American version of RT in their country, nor should they.
#15157218
Unthinking Majority wrote:This is fair enough. However, any state media, whether foreign or domestic, is propaganda BS. The government should not be in the news media business, whether American or Russia or otherwise.


Governments, in the real world, will try to use all manner of media, including Twitter(r) to influence the citizenry. I do not see it being successfully outlawed.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.
#15157231
Rugoz wrote:RT is one of "uncountable" English-speaking news channels. It's nowhere near having a monopoly or dominant position. Sure it was established to shit on the West, but so what, it doesn't hide its origins.


This x1000. Imagine if it called itself 'Radio Free Europe' Or Radio free Asia' and was shitting on a specific country 24/7, while funded and based in a certain other specific country hellbent on dominating that country.

RT is exactly what it is, 99% of their content is about Russia Today. I love their docos.
#15157258
RE: WHY IS RUSSIAN TELEVISION ALLOWED TO BROADCAST IN THE WEST?

In Malta, we get a lot of Russian tourists. So it's no surprise we see Russian language stations in a cable TV package here. RTR Planeta and Channel One Russia are showing on mine; the provider is a private company reacting to market forces.

And it's not just Russian language TV. With my cable package, I can, if I choose, watch 1 Chinese, 1 Lebanese, 1 Spanish, 2 Arab, 2 Turkish, 3 German, and 4 French stations, besides numerous Maltese, American, English, English language (RT included), and Italian TV stations.


:)
#15157265
Unthinking Majority wrote:The Russian government are only out to harm western countries, it's not about "truth" or "fairness", it's about winning.

And what political / ideological grouping is not about winning? Who really cares about truth and fairness more than winning? The road to truth lies through lies. The road to truth lies through, bias, deception, selective choice of facts and data and misrepresentation. Because everybody lies, not just every politician, not just every political activist and partisan, but every religion and every scientist.

That's the cost of democracy, that's the cost of living in a free country or mostly free country, less free countries can put their case. Of course foreign governments are going to try and influence elections. Its pure narcissism to think that you can have an election or are entitled to an election without foreign influence. Americans are particular guilty in this regard. The American Constitution is a case study in narcissism. Slave owners wanking themselves off on the idea that all men are born equal.

I've virtually never watched RT, I don't go around promoting it, but if it does get banned, I'd just like the Russian government to know that I'm open for hire to promote their views in Britain as a British citizen.

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