PARIS – French satellite company Eutelsat today halted European broadcasts of Russian channel NTV Mir after regulators flagged content it had aired comparing Ukrainians to Nazis.
Media regulator Arcom asked for the Russian channel to be blocked because it had repeatedly portrayed not only Ukraine’s leaders but also its population as adhering to Nazi ideology.
Eutelsat has already taken down several Russian channels after requests from the European Union and individual countries dismayed at the dissemination of what they regard as pro-Kremlin propaganda since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
NTV Mir’s parent company was sanctioned by the United States in May, the White House labelling it state-owned and alleging its revenue from overseas advertising was fed back to the Kremlin.
The French regulator said on its website that the channel “tends to repeatedly portray not only the Ukrainian leadership and the Ukrainian army, but also and above all the Ukrainian population, as adhering to the Nazi ideology of the Third Reich”.
Arcom cited a broadcast on 24 April that characterised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “a comedian in the role of Hitler who ordered a missile to be fired at women and children”.
Eutelsat carries the NTV Mir in Europe but when asked by AFP could not confirm which countries would be affected by the ban.
Arcom said it was possible that NTV Mir could still be picked up on other non-European satellites with more limited coverage on the continent.
Since the Russian invasion, Eutelsat has halted broadcasts of news channel RT in several countries as well as two other Russian state broadcasters, Russia 24 and RTR Planeta. – AFP, August 3, 2022
