A Welsh Conservative MS has written to Ofcom to add his party’s voice to the chorus of criticising Russia Today’s place on the airwaves.
Shadow Culture Minister Tom Giffard MS wrote to Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom CEO, today to “regarding the operation and reporting of the RT News channel in the UK”.
Giffard accused the broadcaster of spreading disinformation, being funded by the Russian state and being a propaganda tool for President Putin.
He also highlighted the repeated breaches of the Broadcasting Code by the channel: in 2019 RT were fined £200,000 for “a serious breach” of impartiality rules regarding reports on the Salisbury poisoning and the war in Syria.
Commenting, Welsh Conservative and Shadow Culture Minister Tom Giffard MS said: “At a time of war, it is important that facts are reported in an even-handed manner. Any unbiased observer can see that RT fails to do this on every level.
“Make no mistake, Russia is responsible for this war, and for the deaths of the innocent people caught up in it. But RT tries to cloud this completely and spin the Kremlin’s narrative instead.
“RT is the propaganda arm of a barbaric dictator that lures useful idiots, cynical opportunities, and fifth columnists to parrot the lines of a corrupt and morally bankrupt Russian regime.
“After countless breaches of the broadcasting code and its obvious bias towards Putin’s regime, it is clear that it has no place on our screens.
