NEWS INFORMATION
In the US, Trump is asked to lift sanctions against Russian media and give freedom "to all voices"
The Biden administration's ban on Russian media outlets, including Sputnik, violates US constitutional law and must be lifted, US journalist Ben Swann said in his open letter to US President Donald Trump. The letter has been signed by forty other journalists so far."We call on you to lift all sanctions against RT, Sputnik and TV Novosti and allow the public sphere to remain free for all voices, all journalists and all points of view," Swann said.As the reporter pointed out, this step is motivated by the "great control" that is exercised in the United States over "freedom of expression and of the press." In this context, he stressed that, after the departure of the Biden Administration, sanctions against Russian media outlets remain in force , which "directly violates these two American freedoms protected by the Constitution."The letter, signed by his colleagues, also notes that such a move by the previous US administration is unprecedented and has made it illegal for American journalists to exercise "their constitutionally protected rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press."According to Swann, US reporters have thus lost not only their jobs but also their ability to share "unbiased, objective and honest news and opinion programmes" with an audience of more than 800 million people worldwide.
US sanctions against Russian media are an "admission of defeat" in the information spaceSeptember 14, 2024, 16:12 GMTOn 13 September 2024, then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced sanctions against Russian media groups Rossiya Segodnya (Sputnik's parent company), TV-Novosti (RT, Ruptly) and Evrazia , as well as their executives, for their alleged involvement in "disinformation campaigns" and covert intelligence operations.The US State Department has tightened working conditions for the group and its subsidiaries, defining their status as "foreign missions" that require them to report to the State Department on the personnel working in the United States and their assets, according to US laws.According to Swann, the pretext was the "old lie" about alleged interference by Russian media in the US elections. Russia has repeatedly denied foreign interference, calling the allegations attempts to suppress alternative views .