Russian propagandists concerned with censorship in the Baltics and Ukraine

Russian propagandists formulated their concerns about the censorship of the material they produce in a report entitled “Censored Europe 2020: Suppressing Freedom of Speech in the Baltics and Ukraine”.

The clearly anti-Baltic publication RuBaltic published the story of a recent online roundtable discussion in Moscow entitled “Is there freedom of speech in Europe? The problem of censorship in the eastern periphery ”, which spoke about the compliance of freedom of speech and the persecution of the media and journalists in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.

For example, the roundtable discussion included a presentation on “Censored Europe 2020: Suppressing Freedom of Speech in the Baltics and Ukraine” by Aleksandr Nosovitsch, Editor-in-Chief of the portal and Aleksei Iljaschevitsch, a political observer. Both are known for their pro-Kremlin and anti-Baltic views.

Among other things, the report contains the most prominent cases of restriction of “freedom of speech”, including the TOP10. The ten most important cases of restriction of “freedom of speech” included three “cases” from Lithuania, three from Latvia, and two from Ukraine and two from Estonia.

In the case of Estonia, the sanctions imposed on Sputnik Estonia were highlighted, due to which the editorial board had to suspend its activities, and in another case, the non-admission of the Kremlin-minded Italian journalist Giulietto Chiesa to Estonia was pointed out.

The report complains that the usual tactics that are applied to the media in the Baltics, are used in Estonia, be it expulsion, intimidation or, for example, economic restrictions. In the case of Estonia, the stigmatization of journalists and publications loyal to the Kremlin in the KAPO yearbook, refusals of interviews by state officials and agencies, as well as refusals to accredit individuals for press events, were also highlighted.

There is also room for Propastop in the report. The black list of pro-Kremlin propaganda channels compiled in 2017 is highlighted, as is the public initiative to collect signatures launched in 2019 to close the domains of the local branches of Sputnik and Baltnews.

Special mention has also been made of Sputnik Estonia’s media request attempt to place the Estonian Defense Forces in an awkward situation, which is reflected in Propastop.

In a peculiar way, the report ends with the statement that the situation in Estonia is somewhat better than in the other Baltic nations, but this impression is significantly damaged by the “Sputnik case”.

Photo: screenshots of the report