Rogers, civil groups, say CRTC should remove Russian state-owned channels from airwaves

Rogers Communications Inc. and civil organizations told the CRTC that in addition to Russia Today and Russia Today France (collectively, RT) it should remove all state-owned Russian channels from the list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution. “The Russian RT channel and all other Russian state media are proven to be the extension of the state, which was designed and developed to distribute Russian state propaganda. The Russian Federation does not have free press and freedom of information,” Ukrainian Canadian Congress president Peter Schturyn wrote to the CRTC in its March 7 intervention. The interventions, published Wednesday, were a response to a broadcasting notice of consultation issued by the regulator last week in which it took the preliminary view that “in light of the concerns raised by the Government of Canada and the public… RT’s programming may not be consistent with the commission’s broadcasting regulations, in particular, the abusive comment provisions such as those set out in the Television Broadcasting Regulations.” “Distribution of disinformation, incitement to violence and propagation of hatred are contrary to all basic Canadian values and are considered criminal offenses, pursuant to Criminal Code of Canada,” Schturyn wrote. Last month Rogers, Shaw Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. removed RT from the channel lineups of their broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs). The latter two companies did not submit interventions to the CRTC’s consultation, nor did Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron which never carried the channel. In its intervention, Rogers told the CRTC it originally removed Russia Today because it is state-owned and Canada had placed sanctions on the country. It recommended that the commission also remove Channel One Russia and RTR Planeta from the list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution. “In our view, it would be appropriate for the commission to also consider removing from the list… any programming service that is either owned or controlled by a state that is subject to Canadian sanctions or by any specific individual or entity identified in… the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations,” the incumbent wrote. Shaw told the CRTC in its intervention that Shaw Cable’s removal of the service is consistent with the CRTC’s preliminary view in its consultation and the company’s BDUs are not in a position to “show cause why RT should not be removed from the list.” Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. did not take a position on Russia Today’s removal in its intervention, and only noted that SaskTel does not carry the RT channel for its BDU services serving Regina and Saskatoon regions. Central and Eastern European Council in Canada’s president, Marcus Kolga, wrote to the CRTC on behalf of the organization, which represents 4.5 million Canadians, that the three identified channels should be removed from the airwaves because they “are used by the Putin regime to promote toxic narratives, propaganda, lies and conspiracy theories, to spread hate against its critics and enemies, and undermine western democracies eroding the cohesion within them.” According to Kolga, during the recent convoy protests in Ottawa, Russian state media “gave a platform to and legitimized extremist voices” who were actively calling for the removal of the Canadian government. “This represents not free speech, but a direct attack by a hostile foreign government on Canadian democracy,” he wrote. Kolga further argued that the Russian state-media has promoted hate towards minority groups and the LGBTQ community, noting that in 2013 Russian media host, Dmitry Kiselyov stated “that the hearts of gay men should be removed and burned when they die.” He also noted that on Jan. 17, 2019, CBC/Radio-Canada reported that a popular Russian state media show claimed that “Canada is harbouring Ukrainian fascists who are directing anti-Russian policies by the Canadian government.” “Such conspiracy theories, which are consistent with Vladimir Putin’s unhinged and completely false claims about Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky being a drug addled neo-Nazi, threaten to marginalize the Ukrainian community and delegitimize them as Canadian citizens,” Kolga argured. In total the CRTC received 336 interventions the vast majority of which were from individuals who support the removal of Russia Today from the Canadian airwaves. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Rogers, civil groups, say CRTC should remove Russian state-owned channels from airwaves

Broadcast | March 9, 2022

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Rogers, civil groups, say CRTC should remove Russian state-owned channels from airwaves

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