British shadow minister for culture, digital, sports and media Joe Stevens sent a letter to the executive director of the media regulator Ofcom Melanie Daws, in which she called for a reconsideration of granting RT a license to broadcast in the country.

In the message, Stevens referred to a recently published report by the UK Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, which refers to alleged "Russian interference" in the internal affairs of the Kingdom, and RT and Sputnik are accused of "spreading disinformation" in the UK.

Stevens said in her letter that the report "clearly identifies the problems that Ofcom already identified in 2018 when RT was fined £ 200,000."

“When the High Court rejected RT’s appeal against Ofcom’s fines, Judge Dingemans announced his ruling that the biased reporting of the Russian government’s Salisbury poisoning had done“ real and potential harm. ” Now this conviction is backed up by a long-awaited report from the Intelligence and Security Committee, which exposes the role RT plays in the much broader issue of Russian influence, ”the parliamentarian said.

Stevens called for an immediate review of the granting of RT license.

"I appeal to you with a request to Ofcom to immediately revise the broadcasting license of RT in the light of this report, as well as a request for a personal meeting with you in the near future to discuss all the questions this broadcaster raises in me," she wrote.

Let us remind you that the Russian Foreign Ministry reacted to the publication of the report. The official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, called the presented material "Russophobia in a fake cut", noting that it does not contain any sensation.

Joe Stevens' appeal was commented on by RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.

“We have been leaked a letter that the UK Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sports sent to Ofcom, the official INDEPENDENT media regulator. In it, the minister actually demands to revoke our broadcasting license. <...> And what are we going to do with the bibiration? " - commented Simonyan.

Afshin Rattanzi, host of the Going Underground program on RT, also reacted to the British minister's demand, recalling that Ofcom had already conducted investigations into RT and ruled that the channel was showing the same impartiality as other broadcasters.

“Yes, of course, when an ordinary, ordinary person writes to Ofcom, he is obliged to investigate the complaint. But in this case, we are talking about the opposition leader who speaks from the rostrum in the House of Commons and has the parliamentary privilege to speak with the Prime Minister that he wants to ban RT's work. This person holds a public office. Why is a person holding a public office - not an ordinary person, not an ordinary viewer of RT or any other TV channel - complains of bias? ”He said.

“Sir Cyrus Starmer (leader of the Labor Party. - RT ) seems to be obsessed with the desire to destroy press freedom in Britain, which is why the Labor Party is in the spotlight, as it threatens the freedom of the press in the country, the rights under Article 19 of the Charter The United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the British Human Rights Act, ”Rattanzi said.

Political columnist, journalist, filmmaker Andre Vlchek emphasized that RT's work runs counter to mainstream propaganda.

“It is obvious that we are talking about censorship, about the desire to support the propaganda spread by the efforts of the media on both sides of the Atlantic. [British] parliamentarians should not ban anything at all, especially given that the BBC - a news organization funded by the British government, one of the largest in the world - itself broadcasts ideas from the UK government, ”he recalled he.

“In the big cities of the UK and the US, many intellectuals choose RT. They are looking for alternative - objective - sources of information, ”the expert added.

Reacted to the letter of the British shadow minister and Russian parliamentarians. Sergei Tsekov, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, pointed out that Joe Stevens, in his letter, is actually in favor of prohibiting freedom of speech and organizing censorship of those media outlets that do not express the point of view of British officials. 

"Stevens with such an appeal (if implemented) makes it impossible for British citizens to hear an alternative point of view from the one that is imposed on the British media people who are oriented in their foreign policy preferences to the official position of London," the senator explained.

“That is, in fact, she is in favor of prohibiting freedom of speech, in order to organize the censorship of the media, which, in their opinion, do not express the point of view and point of view of the people of their views,” he stressed.

He recalled that the conclusions presented in the report of the British Parliamentary Committee are absolutely unfounded.

"Of course, they are most angry that the audience of RT is constantly growing, and many influential politicians, including in the UK, or people - leaders of public opinion, declare that they constantly watch RT," Tsekov concluded.

In turn, Anton Morozov, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, called such methods of pressure and coercion against the Russian media operating abroad completely unacceptable.

"These reports can be written by any analysts engaged in political expediency, inspired by anti-Russian sentiments, which, unfortunately, are characteristic of some part of Western politicians," the deputy noted.

The presented statements do not in any way correlate with freedom of speech and freedom of dissemination of information, noted the head of the Union of Journalists of Russia Vladimir Solovyov. The shadow minister should understand how laws on freedom of the press work, he added, noting that this is not the first time that threats against RT and the Sputnik agency have been heard around the world.

“From this we can conclude that these media are becoming more and more popular there, and they are going against the mainstream, and people are interested in knowing a different point of view,” Solovyov said, pointing out that such statements should be taken into account by international journalistic and human rights organizations.

A similar opinion was expressed by Elena Sutormina, Chair of the Commission of the Public Chamber of Russia on the Development of Public Diplomacy, Humanitarian Cooperation and Preservation of Traditional Values, describing the incident as a flagrant violation of the rights of journalists and a Russophobic attitude.

“Both Sputnik and RT reports are bright, there is an interesting presentation of the material, the audience is growing. This is not only a violation of rights, but also an unfair fight against competitors, ”she concluded.

The statements of the shadow minister do not correlate in any way with freedom of speech or with the rights of journalists to cover certain events, said Dmitry Novikov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma's international affairs committee.

Recall also that in December 2018, the results of an investigation by Ofcom were announced, which considered that RT violated the broadcasting code in seven episodes. The TV station was fined £ 200,000 for "violating the principle of impartiality."

The Russian Embassy in Britain called Ofcom's actions against RT an attempt to put pressure on the channel's editorial policy.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the amount of the fine raises questions and exceeds the penalties against other media outlets.

RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said that Ofcom, by its decision on the TV channel, proved that it is a weapon for reprisals against unwanted media.