UK broadcast regulator Ofcom has opened 15 new investigations into the due impartiality of RT’s news programming.
The new investigations relate to 15 editions of the Kremlin-funded channel’s hourly News programme between 5am and 7pm on Sunday – as Russian forces advanced into Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv.
Ofcom has not said exactly what content or words are under investigation, but said they will be “expedited, given the severity and urgency of the current crisis”.
In the week leading up to Tuesday 22 February, the latest data Ofcom has made available, 30 complaints were made to the regulator about RT. Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Thursday and multiple RT journalists have subsequently quit the channel.
Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes said: “Given the scale and gravity of the crisis in Ukraine, audiences expect to be able to trust and rely on duly impartial broadcast news.
“When reporting on an armed conflict, we recognise it can be difficult for broadcasters to verify information and events, but it is imperative that they make every effort to do so. They must also explain clearly to audiences where there is uncertainty or where events are disputed.
“Supporting a fair and free media is central to Ofcom’s work. We take this responsibility – and our duty to protect audiences and uphold trust in news – extremely seriously. Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of our approach and fundamental to our democracy.
“Given the serious ongoing situation in Ukraine, we will be concluding our investigations into RT as a matter of urgency.”
Ofcom says due impartiality should be achieved by “including and giving due weight to a wide range of significant views”.
Speaking at the Ukrainian Cathedral of the Holy Family on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused RT of “peddling” material that is “doing a lot of damage to the truth”.
He called for Ofcom to look at if it is “infringing the rules of this country”.
Johnson said: “We have a principle in this country that we don’t allow politicians to ban this or that media organisation, and that’s the way we do it, and I think we’re better for that.
“But I’ve got to tell you that I think the stuff that RT is peddling at the moment is doing a lot of damage to the truth, and I think it’s important that Ofcom should look at it and make up its mind about whether that organisation is infringing the rules of this country.”
When it was put to him that it sounded like he would ban it if he had the power to do so, Johnson said: “Yes, but the difference between us and Russia is that the power is not with me, and that’s the right thing.
“And that, you know, is partly what we’re fighting for.”
Last week Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries told Ofcom to review the operation of RT, previously known as Russia Today, which she said was “demonstrably part of Russia’s global disinformation campaign”.
In her letter to Ofcom, Dorries said certain states sought to “exploit and undermine” the UK’s media landscape.
She said RT’s editor-in-chief had “made clear in the past” that the station supported the Kremlin’s aims, by calling the broadcaster an “information weapon” of the Russian state.
Dawes said in response that the regulator had “already stepped up our oversight of coverage of these events by broadcasters in the UK”.
She said while broadcasters can cover issues from a “particular perspective” as long as balance is achieved, that “it would not be acceptable for any of our licensees to broadcast one-sided propaganda”.
Picture: Reuters/Gleb Garanich
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