Russia slams UK watchdog for fine of news channel RT

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia's Foreign Ministry severely criticized a U.K. broadcasting watchdog on Friday for its decision to fine the Russian-backed news channel RT (Russia Today) for $248,500.

In an online statement, the ministry stressed that the TV channel was penalized by Ofcom without court order and that the sum of the penalty was extraordinarily high.

Ofcom announced earlier today that the decision came after an investigation that "found that RT failed to preserve due impartiality in seven news and current affairs programmes between 17 March and 26 April 2018."

The regulator stressed that these "breaches" represented serious and repeated failures of compliance with legal measures in the country.

The ministry warned British media operating in Russia that they must be prepared to face the consequences of Ofcom's decision.

"We are closely monitoring the development of the situation and remind that the British media working in Russia must be ready to face the consequences," it said.

Moscow said it took the move as an attempt to limit the Russian media in the U.K., and that a legal assessment of the decision would be conducted by a recently-established "expert group of lawyers".

It added that this group would be chaired by the country's special representative of the foreign office for media freedom.

"Such accusations are all the more surprising as the national media of the U.K. regularly allows the distortion of facts and deliberate substitution of concepts in their reports, without the slightest criticism from Ofcom," the ministry said in a statement.

RT has been criticized for spreading pro-Russian propaganda as well as right-wing conspiracy theories in its programs.

Earlier this month, RT and fellow channel Sputnik were barred by the foreign office from attending a media freedom conference, citing their role in "spreading disinformation". The news channels accused the government of hypocrisy with the move being politically motivated.

In December 2018, Ofcom found RT to have committed several breaches of the U.K.’s broadcasting code during its reporting on the poisoning of former Soviet spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury last year. Russia is accused of the assassination attempt, in which the U.K. authorities claim a military grade chemical agent was used by two undercover Russian intelligence officers.

Both RT and Sputnik are funded by the Russian government.