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The EU has banned many Russian and Belarussian news sources since the invasion of Ukraine. The USA seems to not have followed through (as far as I know - as Ru
by brabel 3y ago
The EU has banned many Russian and Belarussian news sources since the invasion of Ukraine.
The USA seems to not have followed through (as far as I know - as Russian news sites seem to be available).
- taf2 3y agoWe definitely did block or at least make them less available, as I recall prior to the invasion RT was commonly on when walking into a hotel room or in Youtube recommendation lists. Post invasion in US I never see it in any hotels or recommended on Youtube... was it censored or maybe just wildly boycotted, not sure... but seems appropriate as a response to me
- radlad 3y agoI think there is a huge difference between the government blocking access to a media outlet versus hotels choosing to no longer display said media outlet on their televisions. AFAIK, there has been no ban. It would probably face some backlash given the First Amendment right to freedom of press. (Though I'm not sure that truly extends to the press of a foreign country?)
- oivey 3y agoThis is a government ban. It is not at all comparable to your perception that private businesses are playing less Russia origin media.
- arp242 3y agoRT was outright banned by the EU after they invaded Ukraine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#Responses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#Responses – it's also been dropped/banned by most mainstream platforms. I don't think you can compare Al Jazeera and RT, because one has been a firehose of bullshit that has literally advocates invasion of Ukraine, and the other does not. As far as I know, Al Jazeera is banned purely because they've been critical of current Israeli policy. There are some reasonable criticisms of Al Jazeera and things they could have done better, but that applies to every media outlet on the planet.
- jolj 3y agoYou'd might want to watch some arabic al jazeera. While Al Jazeera English pushes s the progressive post-colonialist narrative in the United States, Al Jazeera Arabic gears the Middle East for a war by pushing a Muslim Brotherhood idea of a Sharia state, Salafism and Jihad. Both have the same aim, just as Qatar Airways sponsor your flights with oil money so you might fly through Qatar, Al Jazeera pays journalists so they can push Qatar's narratives to Western or Arabic audience. This is highly similar to RT in intent. Looking from Israel standpoint, it's a news outlet that pushes your enemies propaganda arm videos unfiltered and also uses it to radicalize part of your population
- arp242 3y agoI don't speak Arabic so I can't really judge that; I'm sure there's tons of stuff I'd find distasteful, but being distasteful or even inflammatory (within some limits of reason) should not be outlawed. All I can do is go by articles such as this, which don't really seem to cite the same "firehose of bullshit"-type stuff. Also note that the Israeli government spends tons of money to push Israeli narratives and viewpoints. That's fine, they're allowed to do that, but we can leverage the same "highly similar to RT in intent" accusations against them. In the end we should judge actions, not intent.
- jolj 3y agoIn most of the world outside of the United States, there are laws that relate to the concept of a "defensive democracy". For example the laws that outlaw display of swastikas in Germany are contradictory with freedom of speech but are aimed at denying a democracy being exploited by extreme groups (see ww2). The discussion here is about the actions of Israel versus Al Jazeera, not a possibility of banning Al Jazeera in the United States or maybe Israeli viewpoints. Also, I am pretty sure Israeli spendings to push Israeli narratives in the US are minuscule, especially compared to Qatar's.
- arp242 3y agoIt is not my impression that Al Jazeera can reasonably be compared to Nazi Germany, but okay...
- dkjaudyeqooe 3y agoPropaganda is a tool of war.
- NewJazz 3y agoIs Qatar a belligerent in the war? Belarus has allowed Russia to use their territory as a point from which to launch both ground assaults and missiles into Ukraine. Hard to say the same about Qatar and Hamas. If Al Jazeera were an Iranian publication the comparison might be more similar. Israeli news reports and analysts say Qatar has sent more than $1 billion to Gaza over the past decade. Qatar sent that aid through fuel to the Gaza Strip's Hamas government, which in turn sold it and paid partial salaries. In the past, the money was sent via suitcases stuffed with cash. Israel allowed these transfers to Hamas. Supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say the payments his government approved helped keep the status quo in the Gaza Strip and Hamas from escalating attacks on Israel. https://www.npr.org/2023/11/02/1210110109/qatar-israel-gaza-hamas-war https://www.npr.org/2023/11/02/1210110109/qatar-israel-gaza-...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- avip 3y agoIs this some kind of rhetorical question? Qatar is the main funder of Hamas regime. And hosting Hamas leadership. They fund Hamas more than Iran, according to Israeli intelligence (which may be wrong but that’s the source we have)
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> Qatar is the main funder of Hamas regime Iran is Hamas' main backer. Qatar funded Hamas with Israel's consent, so it's not really fair to hold this against Doha. (Their continuing to host Hamas' leadership is fair to criticise.)
- jjgreen 3y agoIn July 2017, former CIA director David Petraeus revealed that Qatar has hosted the Hamas leadership at the request of US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_and_state-sponsored_terrorism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_and_state-sponsored_terr...
- avip 3y agoAl-Jazeera propaganda/free press sites are also available in Israel
- loceng 3y agoCensorship occurs on most of the major platforms, targeting specific topics or phrases, instead of outright banning channels; arguably to be as discrete as possible and not spook the herd, and where Twitter-X is going to allow the most information to flow - arguable more lies, but arguably also more truth.
- jorvi 3y ago> The EU has banned many Russian news sources rt.com, enter… loads instantaneously. sputnikglobe.com, enter… loads instantaneously. Please don’t lie. Edit: it was not a lie, my apologies. One of the most ineffectual bans I have ever seen.
- forty 3y agoMaybe not for whole EU, but I read it was banned in France, and I can confirm I cannot reach it now (from France).
- jorvi 3y agoI did some further research and technically the EU has banned them, but only from being broadcasted and they are supposed to be DNS-blocked but failing to do so is without legal consequences. To me this is more a discouragement of promotion than any real ban, but I will edit my previous comment.
- brabel 3y agoIt seems in some EU countries you can still reach RT or BY. Try one of these (none accessible to me in Sweden): * https://sputnikglobe.com https://sputnikglobe.com * https://sputnik.by https://sputnik.by * https://rt.com/ https://rt.com/ My wife is Belarussian and was upset she couldn't read her news, that's how I know they banned many websites. They didn't ban the "opposition" websites run from outside Russia/Belarus though :).
- atlantic 3y ago> The EU has banned many Russian and Belarussian news sources since the invasion of Ukraine. Yes it did. And that was a dark day for Europe.
- Synaesthesia 3y agoYeah well the EU isn't exactly a bastion of freedom. There is not freedom of speech there.
- Al-Khwarizmi 3y agoYes, and I'd say that was a dark day for the EU as well. Our democracies are now little more than a farce.
- smallstepforman 3y agoThey’ve always been a farce.
- Al-Khwarizmi 3y agoThey have always had deep flaws. Under an uncharitable interpretation you could say that they've always been a farce, I won't argue because it's a perfectly valid standpoint if you're demanding or perfectionistic enough. Under a charitable interpretation you could say that perfect democracy is an utopia, the perfect is enemy of the good, and at least many Western democracies tried, and achieved reasonably good levels of freedom and choice by the people. Whatever the interpretation, I think it's clear that things are degrading fast in the last few decades. I don't think an EU-wide block on Russian media such as RT wouldn't have passed with such indifference 20 years ago. That's the most worrying to me: not the measure itself, but the indifference from the general population. In fact, I have another comment in this thread saying that block was abhorrent and it's gathering downvotes... In HN, a community where most are well-educated people from the US, a country that has arguably been the staunchest defender of freedom of expression and of the press. I find that worrying. And then there is cancel culture, and other factors, that have eroded effective freedom of speech. At this rate, in a few more decades Western democracies will be hard to tell in practice from Chinese authoritarianism, which is worrying, because they have better economic projection, more safety, booming infrastructure, a less aggressive foreign policy... Democracy and freedom is basically what makes the West worth it, if we lose it, what's even the point?
- Wolfenstein98k 3y agoThere's nothing undemocratic about banning foreign propaganda or news outlets. Illiberal maybe, but not undemocratic.
- 3y ago
- TMWNN 3y ago>The EU has banned many Russian and Belarussian news sources since the invasion of Ukraine. I read Clark's Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia (<https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RI9PMM/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RI9PMM/>) right after hearing about YouTube shutting down Russian state media channels. I was surprised to learn in the book of the extent of the freedom of the press in late 18th-century Prussia. A British visitor wrote that people were as free to speak as back home, citing a work that was very critical of the king in the context of Poland. During the Napoleonic wars, despite the existential threat to Prussia from France, at least four newspapers that celebrated Revolutionary France as the next step in human freedom were allowed to publish. It's always preferable to counter propaganda with free speech. Even liars deserve the opportunity to speak. This is especially true when there is no formally declared war between US/Europe outside Ukraine and Russia.