Latvian National Media Council has confused two different legal entities: RT and Rossiya Segodnya MIA. Dmitri Kiselyov is the Managing Director of Rossiya Segodnya MIA. RT’s editor-in-chief is Margarita Simonyan, who is not subject to EU sanctions. This decision is an indicator of the level of stupidity and ignorance of the Latvian authorities, blinded by Russophobia. We sincerely laughed at this announcement, the Latvian authorities are really shooting themselves in the foot. More seriously, this ban has no legal basis whatsoever, Latvia should resume broadcasting RT and apologise to our colleagues.
Recurrent narrative against the Baltic states allegedly being Russophobic and acting irrationally against RT and Sputnik. Latvia has banned the state-owned Russian television channel RT, saying it is controlled by an individual, Dmitriy Kiselyov, who is under EU sanctions. According to the Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP), Latvia's national media watchdog, RT and the network of channels operated by it are under Kiselyov's "effective control". Read full NEPLP's position here for details. For further debunking please see the Insider. Read similar stories: Russian Media are being discriminated against in the Baltic states, Estonian laws only foresee asset freezing for people and companies mentioned in the EU sanctions list.