The Kremlin is preparing to restrict Baltic media channels

In mid-July, the Foreign Intervention Commission of the State Duma handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs materials and information about the media in the Baltic nations as well as how they disseminate information harmful to Russia.

Vasily Piskarev, chairperson of the commission, said that they had identified several cases of the use of media in the Baltic nations to spread drug propaganda and to encourage young people in Russia to take part in riots and other violations of the law.

Piskarev believes that the Russian Foreign Ministry will take into account the materials collected by the Commission and will develop a solution against the destructive influence of the Baltic nations’ media, which would also protect Russia’s border areas.

He also added that the illegal activities of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in closing RT channels could not go unanswered.

Piskarev’s statement is a continuation of the call sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Temporary Committee on Information Policy and Media Relations of the Federation Council in early July to develop countermeasures against the restrictions of RT channels in Latvia and Lithuania and what is happening to Estonian Sputnik. Neither Piskarev nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have yet published the details of the plan, nor the list of media channels, nor how it could technically be implemented.

The process currently underway by various commissions to make statements and appeals to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is strange in nature, as the media in the Baltic nations are not overly popular in Russia as well as it is technically difficult to limit their spread. However, creating a blacklist of Baltic media channels would help increase their popularity in Russia.

Neither the black list nor the white list are anything new in itself. Propastop has created both a black list of Russian channels, thus gaining the attention of the local media, and in return has compiled a white list of Russian-language channels, from which one can find suitable, unbiased news sources.

Due to our several actions against Sputnik, Propastop will probably also be one of the channels to be added to the Kremlin’s blacklist.

Photo: Marc Biarnès/Flickr/CC