German Watchdog Slaps 25,000-Euro Fine on RT

Earlier this week, the EU banned RT from broadcasting in the bloc over Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

Germany’s media regulator the MABB has imposed a 25,000-Euro fine on RT DE and said that is must be paid by 16 March, the regulator said in a statement.

"On 1 March 2022 the German media regulator (Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg) MABB threatened to impose a 25,000-Euro fine and said that it would be effective immediately unless RT DE Productions GmbH stopped broadcasting by 4 March...Since RT DE was still available on various websites on 5 March 2022, MABB has imposed the fine which has to be paid by 16 March 2022. A 40,000-Euro fine will be imposed unless RT DE’s broadcasting is stopped by 16 March", the regulator's statement reads.

On 1 February, Germany's Commission for Licensing and Supervision of Media officially banned RT DE from broadcasting in Germany, saying the channel did not have the necessary permission. RT DE Productions has appealed against the decision of the German regulator in court. The Russian Foreign Ministry explained that there was no violation, since RT DE has a license issued by Serbia and has been working in full compliance with the European Convention on Cross-Border Television, to which Germany is a party. In response to the cessation of RT DE’s broadcasting, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow was closing the Deutsche Welle correspondent office in Russia and cancelling the accreditation of all employees of its Russian bureau.

The German media regulator's decision to impose a fine on RT DE comes shortly after RT was banned from broadcasting across the European Union amid the bloc's reaction to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Google also banned RT-related apps from the Play app store across the EU and blocked YouTube channels "connected to RT across Europe, effective immediately".