Russia Today logoCARACAS, Mar 5The ban on the work of the Russian media Sputnik and RT in the European Union does not make sense and violates freedom of information, residents of the Venezuelan capital told RIA Novosti. The European Union on March 2 banned the distribution of the signal and content of RT and Sputnik against the background of the Russian operation to demilitarize Ukraine. In particular, the annex to the decision lists the following organizations: RT — Russia Today English, RT — Russia Today UK, RT — Russia Today Germany, RT — Russia Today France and RT — Russia Today Spanish, as well as Sputnik without giving details. On the same day, the American company Meta turned off the applications of all the resources of MIA Rossiya Segodnya. Journalists from these media outlets have also been targeted on social media — the personal accounts of some employees, citizens of the respective countries, have been tagged «Media affiliated with the Russian government» on Twitter.
Weakness, desperation and indifference is what the RT and Sputnik ban says»This measure does not make sense. I think people have the right to choose which media they read and which not, both in the European Union and in the United States , and Venezuela, I have never considered it right to block any media, no matter what lines they follow,» said 36-year-old engineer Fernando Lima. Residents of Caracas in this regard also expressed their concern about the «superpower» in the performance social networks.» In recent years, we have seen that these social networks are very dangerous, I think that they cut off the channel and isolate those they want, looking harmless. I believe that neither censorship nor labeling of journalists is wrong. Although I I do not support war, nor do I support censorship,” said the 32-year-old social media professional. information that people consume.» Here in Venezuela, we've experienced a bit of that. Sometimes I face blocking of international media, CNN disappeared from TV screens, and I think it's time for governments to stop censoring people, this is disrespectful to the citizen,» said 45-year-old art specialist Rosemary Garces. Previously, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, commenting on the situation, he said that Moscow did not expect the West to impose sanctions on journalists, athletes, representatives of culture.The head of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, Valery Fadeev, sent an appeal to the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro and urged her to take measures to comply norms regarding freedom of the press, due to the oppression of Russian-language publications. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine early on Thursday, February 24. President Vladimir Putin called it the goal of «protecting people who have been subjected to abuse, genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years «. For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine y», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, nothing threatens the civilian population. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the President of Russia emphasized.
