"Finally," says André Lange from the Diderot Committee, "but why did it take so long?" Since Putin's attack on Ukraine, he has been fighting the Russian propaganda stations on the satellites of the French company Eutelsat.

Now the French media regulator Arcom has asked Eutelsat to stop broadcasting Rossiya 1, Perviy Kanal and NTV in Russia and Ukraine.

Those responsible had so far turned a deaf ear to such demands: they had nothing to do with the content.

Eutelsat played deaf

Juerg Altwegg

Freelance writer in the feuilleton.

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For a long time, the initiators of the Comité Diderot had to feel like lonely voices in the desert.

The echo in the French media was small.

There was no political support.

A turning point became apparent when the concern was taken up by members of the European Parliament and André Lange managed to mobilize Reporters Without Borders.

Reporters Without Borders forced French media regulator Arcom to look into the issue.

But the supervisors were not very enthusiastic and declared themselves "not responsible".

Reporters Without Borders did not give up and reached the Conseil d'Etat, the highest legal authority.

The law enforcement officers saw things differently and showed Arcom how it can be done:

Because the Russian channels are also broadcast in the annexed areas of Ukraine and the country, like France, has signed the “European Convention on Transfrontier Television”, the French media regulator is very much responsible.

And she is entitled to stop the Eutelsat transmitters.

In its communiqué, the Arcom authority refers to "new elements that have been added in the course of the investigations".

Rossiya 1, Perviy Kanal and NTV accused her – slightly euphemistically – of multiple misinformation and incitement to violence and hatred.

This is how Arcom justified the ban.

Eutelsat cannot oppose this.

The satellite operator had previously switched off numerous Russian propaganda stations that could be received in Europe.

The Committee Diderot welcomes the decision, but calls for further measures: Eutelsat must generally comply with the sanctions against Putin and stop technical cooperation with Russia.

This is of strategic importance and generates six percent of Eutelsat's total revenue.