Prohibited Russian media sites remain accessible in the EU
RT (ex-Russia Today), Sputnik, as well as other chains, press agencies and newspapers controlled by the Russian state are still remaining “Widely accessible” In the European Union (EU), although prohibited, according to a report published on Tuesday.
After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, European bodies prohibited the media controlled by the Kremlin to disseminate in the EU, including online, accusing them of disinformation. But more than three years later, “The sanctioned media are still largely active and accessible” In the member states, affirms a report published by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a group of reflection based in London.
“Russian state media continue to maintain a strong online presence, which is a persistent challenge for Western democracies”writes the report, stressing that the blockages imposed by the Internet access providers are “Largely ineffective”.
Each Member State is responsible for ensuring that blockages are well implemented by access providers. But the report of the critical ISD “Failure” of the European Commission to establish a “Reference list of different versions of domains” – or Internet addresses – used by each sanctioned entity.
According to the report, this deprives states and access providers “Directives necessary for effective and targeted application”.
The ISD has identified 26 sanctioned media entities, which use 58 different domain names. This reflection group calls on the European Commission to provide “A list continuously updated and accessible to the public” of all the areas concerned.
Asked, a spokesperson for the European executive referred the ball to the suppliers to which “It belongs (…) to block access to sanctioned media websites, including newly created sub-domains or areas ”.
The study focused on Germany, France, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia testing the three most popular Internet service providers in each country.
According to the author of the report, Pablo Maristany de Las Casas, “Some media, for example RT, use mirror sites”with different addresses, to get around the sanctions.
The report adds that Slovakia, of which Prime Minister, Robert Fico, is known for his prorussian positions, “Displays the worst results”all sanctioned sites being accessible during tests. Poland arrives in second position of the bad students, with at least 50 accessible areas. France and Germany are the most effective, according to the report.
Most sanctioned sites have little audience – less than a thousand monthly views in the EU – but in Germany, where the Russian diaspora is large, three areas, including RT, record more than 100,000 monthly visitors. The author of the report also points to another “Faille” : Many accounts on X publish links to prohibited media sites, mainly intended for French -speaking and German -speaking audiences.
