Slashdot Mirror
Russia Today: NatWest To Close Russian Channel's UK Bank Accounts (bbc.com)
According to the editor-in-chief of state-run broadcaster Russia Today (RT), NatWest bank froze its account. Margarita Simonyan said, "They've closed our accounts in Britain. All our accounts. 'The decision is not subject to review.' Praise be to freedom of speech!" The Guardian adds: Russia has angrily accused Britain of trampling on freedom of speech after NatWest said it was closing down the bank accounts of the Kremlin TV channel Russia Today (RT). Russian MPs, the foreign ministry and human rights officials all condemned the move, and said the UK government was guilty of violating press freedom and of double standards. Simonyan said she had received a letter out of the blue from NatWest saying that it was pulling the plug on the broadcaster's accounts from mid-December. "We have recently undertaken a review of your banking arrangements with us and reached the conclusion that we will no longer provide these facilities," it said.
No one said Russia is a bastion of free speech, but the hyperbole of the "RT is the KGB" is absurd,
The KGB did A LOT More horrible shit than produce media with a pro-russian spin, i'm sick of stupid people constantly trying to make a point by finding the most extreme parallel they can imagine and then declaring confidently as if its fact..
Russia has angrily accused Britain of trampling on freedom of speech
As if Putin, and thereby extension Russia, knows what freedom of speech is.
If Russia is so worried about freedom of speech then perhaps they should start at home by allowing all those opposition and independent news organizations they keep investigating and shutting down to reopen. Lead by example.
The same would go for the Tartar news and radio organizations they've shut down since they've taken over Crimea from Ukraine rather than putting locks on the doors and imprisoning Tartars who run those organizations.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dear lord, this is just like Trump's unhinged tweeting. I'd believe it's him, but I'm sure he'd want to sign in & put his name on it.
Surely you don't think US media is allowed to operate unfettered in Russia or China? If you do, you are very ignorant about the state of affairs.
RT takes direct orders from the Russia government. It is not at all comparable to corporate media (except in the fantasies of Russian propagandists with their endless whataboutism).
But the US really does have an equivalent to RT that's targeted at Russia, it's called Radio Free Europe: http://www.rferl.org/
There's also Radio Free Asia: http://www.rfa.org/
Take a look at those and get an idea of what real pro-western propaganda looks like. Then go look at RT for a while, and you'll begin to understand how those propaganda sites really are the mirror image of RT. Then you can begin to appreciate how the major media in the West are much more open, nuanced and honest than either one.