Disinfo: RT France for the Kremlin is the same as France 24 for the Elysee

Summary

RT France TV channel is still not accredited with the Elysee, 3 years after its creation, whereas France 24 channel is accredited with the Kremlin.

Disproof

Recurrent narrative presenting RT as the equivalent of France 24, Deutsche Welle or the BBC.

However, such a comparison doesn't make any sense as showed by researcher Maxime Audinet in La revue des médias. Such a comparison is whataboutism and when such channels are really compared in details the differences are obvious:

The network’s skeptical motto, Question More embodies this "ethical project". The resulting relativism innervates the contents of RT. It manifests itself in a clear denial of journalistic objectivity and in the relentless use of sarcasm and irony to ward off criticism. The systematic equivalence of more or less reliable accounts, with a weak contextualization of the facts, is finally a trademark, in particular when the reputation of Russia is undermined. The objective, clearly manipulative, is to confuse the reader, to prevent him from distinguishing the true from the false, the credible from the doubtful, by drowning him in a deluge of "alternative" versions.

RT editor-in-chief has direct contact with the inner circles of the Kremlin and she and her family participated in personal enrichment schemes from public funding that have no equivalent in France 24.

RT is a state tv channel and an arm of the Russian authorities, like a Russian “defence ministry”, as RT’s chief editor has put it. Read more here.

The France 24 operates independently at arm’s length from the French government and in observance of a set of editorial guidelines.

Read similar cases: In the West, there is censorship like in the Soviet Union in Solzhenitsyn times, RT France is a French channel, It is rather nice for a journalist to work in Russia, unlike in Europe.

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publication/media

RT France - YouTube (Archived)
Embassy of the Russian Federation in France (Archived)
RT France - Twitter (Archived)
Ukraina.ru
  • Reported in: Issue 227
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 09/12/2020
  • Outlet language(s) French, Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: France, Russia
  • Keywords: Russia Today (RT), Anti-Russian, Media, Russophobia
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Disinfo: Violation of freedom of speech in Central and Eastern Europe supervised by the US

The authoritarian practices in the Baltic states and Poland become more and more obvious. No one is trying to pretend anymore that freedom of speech should be respected.

The repressions against the journalists in Latvia should not come as a surprise. It is not the first case of gross violation of freedom of speech in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly against the background of discussions about the rule of law in the EU.

Many believe that there is a group of countries of Central Europe which are under a strong influence of Washington and follow its political agenda. This block includes Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

The political influence of the US leads to an active role of American secret services in these countries. American curators influence local authorities to clear the information sphere from all alternative sources of information. Due to the geopolitical situation, the biggest part of these alternative sources of information is Russian media.

Dec 08, 2020
Disproof

This article repeats two recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives: one about the oppression of the freedom of speech in Central and Eastern Europe and another about the US presence in Europe.

The statement that the Baltic states and Poland manifest “authoritarian practices” in the area of freedom of speech is a manipulative one, especially in comparison with the situation in Russia. In the “Freedom of the press 2020” ranking (by Reporters Without Borders) Estonia is on 14th place, Latvia on 22nd place, Lithuania on 28th place, Romania on 48th place, Poland on 62nd place out of 180 countries. The region is not monolithic. Estonia belongs to the group of states where the situation is evaluated as “good”, the situation in Latvia and Lithuania is “fairly good”, Poland and Romania belong to “problematic” group of countries. Russia holds in this ranking 149th position, the situation of media freedom in the country described as “bad”.

Disinfo: NATO membership will lead Ukraine to disintegration

Ukraine’s entry into the North Atlantic Alliance will lead to the disintegration of its own statehood. As a result, part of Ukraine’s territory will turn into a security buffer between NATO and the Russian Federation.

Dec 08, 2020
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about NATO and Ukraine with no evidence given. This message is an example of a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine being abandoned by its Western partners and the disintegration of Ukraine.

Ukraine is a priority partner for the EU and NATO. Its sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected by almost all the world. Neither the EU nor NATO are planning to turn Ukraine into a security buffer.

Disinfo: US election result was rigged by mail voting

A month has passed and the world is still waiting for the official announcement of the US presidential election results. It is difficult to understand what kind of democracy this is. However, some insist there is a winner. He was proclaimed by TV stations and NGOs. In the era of “rule of law” and “bourgeois democracy”, the verdict of American people was not decided by the ballot boxes but by the boxes of the US post offices, as minors, citizens who had never been registered to vote, and dead people voted.

Dec 08, 2020
Disproof

This report is part of a recurring pro-Kremlin media narrative that the US democracy is an illusion, the election was fraudulent, and thus the US has no right to lecture others about human rights or democracy.

The claims that the US Presidential elections faced an “enormous number of irregularities” and was not properly managed, especially because of mail voting, is not supported by evidence. The OSCE Observation Mission states that the 2020 Presidential elections vote was “competitive and well managed”. Read more OSCE statements on the American elections here.