Latvia has blocked access to Russian media. Moscow has prepared response measures
In Latvia, access to the websites of a number of Russian television channels was blocked.
Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova announced this during a briefing, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“On March 31 of this year, the National Electronic Media Council of Latvia blocked access to the websites RT in Russian, ntv.ru, rus24.ru and teledays.net, through which it was possible to watch Russian TV channels on the Internet. All of them were added to the “black list” posted on the regulator’s portal.
Despite all this, the biased and illegal attitude of the authorities of the Baltic states towards the Russian media is not news to us. This is the first time that not only the rebroadcast of a channel is prohibited, but also the ability to visit its web page in Latvia. At the same time, the illegal distribution of programs, the content of which “may violate copyright laws, have a negative impact and be directed against Latvia and its citizens,” is indicated as a basis with reference to the local law “On Electronic Media.” Some kind of hybrid fake was invented.
Obviously, this has nothing to do with the real state of affairs; it is only a reason to continue a consistent line of eradicating any dissent, in particular Russian. I am sure that this will not only apply to Russian media. The hour is not far when other countries and media will feel the same attitude,” Zakharova said.
She emphasized that this is a blatant violation of freedom of speech and a disregard for the rights of the Russian-speaking population of Latvia. She also proposed a number of steps to counter such Russophobia.
“You also said “except for declarations.” These are not only declarations, these are also our practical appeals to international organizations. What is the effective mechanism? You need to understand and realize it absolutely clearly. Protective measures are within our country. You mentioned the blocking of the Arabic service of the RT TV channel on YouTube video hosting. More than 500 million subscribers, several billion views - nothing is a stopping point for blocking.
Then they unblocked it. Do you have guarantees that it will not be blocked again? Neither you, nor us, nor anyone else has such a guarantee. American Internet giants do what they want. What should be the answer? The first is the protection of one’s own information space: the legislative framework (it is currently being developed), its application (because it often happens in our country that the legislative framework has been developed, but it is not actively applied). This is the development of a legislative framework and its active application.
The second is the development of our own platforms and resources. Yes, I understand well that when you have accumulated such an asset on a site - hosting, social network, when we are talking about hundreds of thousands of subscribers and views, it is a shame to part with it. It is risky to move to a new site and develop it.
There is one small nuance that we always need to remember: we may be uncomfortable moving and developing our own new sites, because we remember how well we worked at the previous ones. But at some point we may lose what we have in terms of developments, without having our own platforms. Then it will be much more offensive. In my opinion, these problems should be solved in these two directions,” added the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
In addition, she emphasized that Western countries themselves are guilty of what the Russian media are accused of, and the Russian Federation intends to fight interference in its internal processes.
“Let me remind you that the coordinators of the Municipal Russia forum, among whom were representatives of non-profit organizations whose activities in Russia are recognized as undesirable. They tried to hold this public event in violation of established sanitary and epidemiological standards. Of course, law enforcement agencies responded.
We see how, all over the world, there is sometimes a real punitive mechanism of persecuting people for their disagreement, not violation, but disagreement with the norms. You see how rallies are being dispersed in the Netherlands and other EU countries. They are always concerned about the situation in Russia, but do not see their own problems.
We are forced to state that the style and content of such publications are evidence of an attempt to influence the processes taking place in our country. They are by no means the only ones.
In essence, the guidelines laid down in the well-known “propaganda” containing instructions for promoting “agents of influence” in Russia are being worked out. I am referring to the report “Russia. Scenario 2019”, as well as the recently released opus of the Atlantic Council. These “works” are a set of fantasies of Russophobic “experts” on the topic of their own vision of the “future of Russia” and how to bring it closer.
Such custom reports are produced according to a template. Unfortunately, this is done by people who call themselves journalists. American journalists are guilty of this. This is not the only element of interference in our internal affairs. We will fight this by protecting our information space,” Zakharova concluded.
Latvia has blocked access to Russian media. Moscow has prepared countermeasures.