On Thursday, the administrative court in Berlin rejected the urgent application by RT DE Productions GmbH against the ban on the television program “RT DE”.

The objection and prohibition order issued by the media authority Berlin-Brandenburg MABB, which is based on a decision by the Commission for Licensing and Supervision (ZAK) of the state media authorities, is lawful after a summary examination.

This was announced by the media authority on Friday.

Michael Hanfeld

responsible editor for feuilleton online and "media".

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"This media law procedure is an expression of a functioning rule of law," said the director of the state media authority, Eva Flecken.

“The rule of law is the prerequisite for a free and democratic media public.

Broadcasting in Germany needs a license.

RT DE cannot ignore this either.

I am pleased that the court has upheld our actions.”

The court justifies its decision not only with a balancing of interests, but also confirms the legality of the decision.

RT DE Productions GmbH can lodge an appeal against the decision of the Berlin Administrative Court with the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court within two weeks.

The main proceedings continue.

"License" from Serbia

RT DE went on the air on December 16 last year without applying for the necessary license from the state media authorities.

The media authority Berlin-Brandenburg initiated media law proceedings the following day.

RT DE was given until mid-January this year to comment.

The broadcaster stated that it did not need permission from the German media regulator, that it had a valid license from Serbia, apart from that it was not an independent broadcaster, but a branch of the Russian state broadcaster in Moscow.

On February 2, the competent commission for licensing and supervision (ZAK) of the state media authorities banned RT DE's programming.

In contrast, RT DE Productions GmbH filed a lawsuit with the administrative court in Berlin.

Since the station could still be received despite the ban, the media authority threatened a fine of 25,000 euros and set a deadline of March 4th.

RT DE allowed this deadline to elapse and filed an urgent application against the broadcasting ban in court.

The court rejected the request on Friday.

In the meantime, the MABB had set the payment of the fine by March 16 and announced another of 40,000 euros.

RT DE did not pay, now the media authority wants to collect the fine by force.

The channel has not been discontinued and is still available via various websites.

This means that the second fine is due, which shouldn't bother the station any further as long as it can ignore the ban imposed by the state media authority.

At the beginning of March, the EU issued a ban on the Russian state broadcasters RT and Sputnik as an economic sanction.

Satellite, cable and network providers have complied.

The federal government is responsible for the complete monitoring of the ban, but responsibility seems to have been lost between the ministries.