European satellite operator Eutelsat 9В has removed RT’s German 24-hour channel from its platform under pressure from Berlin, the broadcaster said, calling the move illegal.
German media regulator MABB (Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg) has forced European satellite service Eutelsat 9B to remove the broadcast of RT’s new Moscow-based German-language channel RT DE from its platform on Wednesday.
“It is inappropriate for the German regulator, MABB, to overreach and ignore the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, under which it is subject, thereby forcing Eutelsat to remove RT DE from the carrier solely due to the unsubstantiated and factually flawed claims of the German regulator,” RT’s press service pointed out.
“We believe this amounts to illegal pressure and are confident this action will be redressed by the courts. We will be seeking all possible remedies against the German regulator, and our audience can continue to access our content across multiple platforms and online,” it said.
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RT expressed confidence that the court will annul Berlin’s decision, and RT DE will again be made available to Eutelsat clients.
RT’s German-language channel can now be watched via SmartTV, the RT News app, and RT DE’s official website (https://de.rt.com/livetv/).
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RT DE started broadcasting last week from its studio in Moscow. Just hours after the launch, YouTube deleted the channel’s page, saying it was created in violation of earlier restrictions that had been placed on the outlet.
In September, two of RT DE’s channels were removed from the platform due to what YouTube claimed was a violation of community guidelines.
