CRTC removes RT from list of channels authorized for distribution, citing “abusive comment” provisions

Russian state-owned media outlets RT and RT France can no longer be distributed in Canada, the CRTC rules in a Wednesday afternoon decision. The continued authorization of the channel for broadcast distribution is, the regulator wrote in the decision, "not in the public interest as their content appears to constitute abusive comment since it tends or is likely to expose the Ukrainian people to hatred or contempt on the basis of their race, national or ethnic origin and that their programming is antithetical to the achievement of the policy objectives of the Broadcasting Act." On Feb. 28, less than a week after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked the CRTC to "begin the process” of reviewing the presence of the channels on Canadian airwaves. Trudeau's request came after a number of Canadian broadcasters, including Telus Corp., BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., and Shaw Communications Inc. all announced that they would remove the channel from their television operations. In its analysis released today, the CRTC wrote that "non-Canadian services do not have a right to be distributed in Canada nor does the addition of such a service to the List grant it such a right. Rather, the Commission provides authority for Canadian BDUs to distribute these services to their subscribers." "That authority is not absolute and the Commission can de-authorize services where it is of the view that the distribution of a service by BDUs is no longer consistent with the policy objectives and, therefore, no longer serves the public interest," the commission wrote. In issuing its notice of consultation on the matter, the CRTC put forward a preliminary view that the channel should be removed, citing the abusive comment provisions of the commission's Television Broadcast Regulations. Those regulations state that a licensee shall not broadcast “any abusive comment or abusive pictorial representation that, when taken in context, tends to or is likely to expose an individual or a group or class of individuals to hatred or contempt on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or mental or physical disability.” In its decision Wednesday, the CRTC wrote that " this practice of portraying a particular group of people in a negative light to serve a political or military agenda is not new to Russia or RT," and cited past findings from British broadcasting regulator Ofcom on previous RT reports on events in Crimean in 2014 and Turkey in 2016. "The Commission considers that similar programming being broadcast today in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, as is indicated in the record of this proceeding, could also create a negative view of the Ukrainian people," the CRTC wrote. "Such negative representations could be considered to constitute abusive comment in that they tended to or were likely to expose the Ukrainian people to hatred or contempt on the basis of their race, national or ethnic origin, such hatred or contempt being born out in the attacks by Russia." In both its preliminary view and its final decision, the commission relied upon regulatory language concerning abusive comment, rather than language in the regulations prohibiting "any false or misleading news," despite Trudeau's exhortation that “there is a significant amount of disinformation circulating from Russia, including on social media, and we need to keep calling it out.” — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

CRTC removes RT from list of channels authorized for distribution, citing “abusive comment” provisions

Broadcast | March 16, 2022

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CRTC removes RT from list of channels authorized for distribution, citing “abusive comment” provisions

Broadcast | March 16, 2022

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