The curbs on Russian media levied under former President Joe Biden are unconstitutional, Ben Swann has argued
American investigative journalist Ben Swann has called upon US president Donald Trump to lift the “unprecedented” sanctions on Russian media organizations RT and Sputnik which were introduced under his predecessor Joe Biden.
Last September, the outgoing US administration announced a new raft of curbs targeting several Russian outlets, blaming them for trying to covertly “undermine democracy” and interfere in US elections. Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused RT of “functioning as a de facto arm of [Russian] intelligence.”
Following Washington’s move, US tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, banned several Russian news networks.
Moscow has condemned the restrictions, saying that Washington had “declared war on freedom of speech.” As for claims of election meddling, they are a mere “witch-hunt” and “spy-o-mania” intended to manipulate public opinion and bar Americans from any inconvenient information, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakrahova insisted at the time.
In his open letter to Trump published on X on Monday, Swann, who founded the Truth in Media project, insisted that curbs against RT and other media organizations are unconstitutional as they are “making it illegal for American journalists to exercise their… rights of freedom of speech and press,” he argued.
The curbs against RT and other media organizations are unconstitutional as they are “making it illegal for American journalists to exercise their… rights of freedom of speech and press,” he argued.
“The journalists targeted by these sanctions are American citizens. Not only did they lose their jobs, but also the opportunity to share factual reporting with an audience of over 800 million people across the globe,” the investigative journalist, who used to cooperate with FOX and RT America, said.
He also argued that the Biden administration’s “bullying” of social media companies, which had to ban Russian outlets, “was corruption on display.”
Swann noted that the excuse for slapping the restrictions was “based on an old lie: that Russia and RT had in some way interfered in US elections.”
Trump again spoke about claims of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election on Friday, calling them a “phony witch hunt” launched by the Democrats. Russian President Vladimir Putin “was accused of all that stuff he had nothing to do with,” he said.
The new administration “has moved at warp speed” to restore the principles of free speech and a free press in the US, but it is “a major oversight” that curbs on Russian media remain in place in the country.
READ MORE: US halts all military aid to Ukraine – media
“We ask you to drop all sanctions against RT, Sputnik and TV Novosti and allow the public square to remain free for all voices, all journalists and all points of view,” Swann said.
