By early February, the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) will complete a check on BBC World News channel regarding compliance with the requirements for television and radio broadcasting in the Russian Federation. This is stated in a press release published on the website of the department.
“From January 14 to January 31, 2019 British TV Ltd. (BBC World News broadcaster in the Russian Federation - RT ) will be monitored for licensing and mandatory requirements in the field of television and radio broadcasting,” reports Roskomnadzor.
At the same time, on the eve of the Russian supervisory authority sent a request to the broadcaster, according to which, until Wednesday, January 16, British TV LLC should provide documents confirming compliance with the requirements of the media law on restricting direct or indirect control of Russian media .
In addition, the Roskomnadzor report states that when checking media resources of the British corporation BBC, materials “broadcasting the ideological attitudes of international terrorist organizations” have already been identified. In particular, we are talking about quotes of the leader of the terrorist group "Islamic State" * Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. At the same time, what kind of materials are not meant.
“An examination is being conducted to determine whether these materials comply with Russian anti-extremist legislation,” the press release says.
Meanwhile, the BBC states that they do not violate Russian legislation and are ready to provide additional information to Roskomnadzor.
“As an international broadcaster, the BBC works in full compliance with the laws and regulatory requirements of each broadcasting country, including Russia. We are always ready to provide additional information about how we cover certain events in case of contacting us with representatives of the relevant supervisory authorities, ”RIA Novosti quotes a representative of the British corporation.
Recall that in December, Roskomnadzor began conducting control measures against BBC World News in connection with the actions of the British regulator Ofcom against the TV channel RT, which was accused of violating the rules of broadcasting.
“Yesterday, the British Roskomnadzor rolled us SEVEN warnings - absolutely out of the blue. They made it clear that they would take a license. Today, the Russian Roskomnadzor announced that it is starting to check the resources of the Air Force. Brave new world, ”explained RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan on December 21.
Yesterday, the British Roskomnadzor rolled us SEVEN warnings, absolutely out of the blue.
And they made it unambiguously clear that they would take a license.
Today, the Russian Roskomnadzor announced that it is starting to check the resources of the Air Force.
Brave new world.
As the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov emphasized, the Roskomnadzor check can be considered a response to Ofcom’s RT decision. At the same time, he added that questions to the BBC had been accumulating for a long time “in terms of tendentious coverage of certain events - coverage not in the media mode, but in the programmed and engaged mode”.
“In Moscow, various departments repeatedly raised questions regarding specific materials, specific episodes with coverage of events related to the Russian Federation, with coverage of what is happening in Syria and within Russia,” explained Peskov.
According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova, London’s rude actions against the Russian media have left Moscow with no choice but to “mirror the answer.”
“I am sincerely sorry for the BBC correspondents, many of whom are true professionals and conscientiously perform their duties,” she said.
Meanwhile, earlier, on December 25, an unpleasant incident occurred with employees of the British BBC corporation located in Russia - personal data of 44 broadcaster employees appeared in the network. It is worth noting that the day before the British newspaper The Sunday Times published a list of employees of the Russian news agency Sputnik in the UK with names and photos.
According to Jamie Angus, Director of the World Service Corporation, the personal announcement poses a threat to journalists of the BBC Russian Service, in connection with which a British television channel allegedly filed a complaint with the Russian authorities.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that there were no complaints from the BBC.
“There were no complaints from the BBC at the end of the working day on December 29: no one from the BBC addressed the DIP (Department of Information and Press. - RT ), didn’t call or write to them. Although all the phones are well known to them, ”said the official representative of the foreign affairs agency, Maria Zakharova.
However, she noted that only a journalistic request was received, which was answered in the DIP.
“There was a request with questions from the correspondent at 4:55 p.m. Saturday, to which the DIP answered. And, in particular, the department initiated the attention of journalists to the fact that it had not received any requests from the bureau in Moscow. What is most remarkable is that, of course, our answers were not included when writing the article. This is a deliberate distortion of the facts, ”Zakharova noted.
* “Islamic State” (IG) - the organization is recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2014.