Version longue en français: https://www.bortzmeyer.org/coupure-russie.html
Several ISPs in France have started censoring rt.com via their DNS resolver.
Why are they doing this? I guess officially they’ll say it’s because of Russian propaganda about Ukraine, and that’s partially correct.
But also worth pointing out is that despite very uncritical propaganda from the regime about what happens in Russia, RT is one of the only mass media (non-independent publication) where you can have decent news about social uproar in France (gilets jaunes, anti-police-abuse riots, etc).
We haven’t reached the point where posts to RT are censored on social media (where it’s most popular) so i can’t exactly say we have “one side” to the news yet but it’s getting closer.
This message is both a fuck you to french ISPs engaging in censorship (remember Sci-Hub? TPB?) and a reminder to all the Putin fanboys around here what “there’s only one side to the news” really means: Russia is already there (there’s a few independent publications but they’ve been struggling for years with State censorship and journalist assassinations) and France is getting closer (on the other side of the narrative). The rest of you who live in countries with more free speech can’t even realize what information control means so please don’t take these words lightly.
RT is useful today to get rid of western misinformation. For example, in Catalonia today misinformation (western aligned) media talk about a Russian attack to a Ukrainian nuclear plant. It would be a stupid action, obviously, but our media spread this stupid info.
Instead, RT, first talk just about an explosion and, finally, when facts were clear, from a combat between a Ukrainian sabotage unit and the Russian patrol who has taking care for the security of the Central since Ukrainian army left it.
But, OK, you prefer just have one “information” source?? lol
Actually, I prefer as many sources as possible. But Russia has decided that it’s cheaper to bring the world down to it’s level with lies, rather than build itself up with anti-corruption reforms. Currently, the cost of wading through Russian disinformation is more than it’s worth. The pandemic would be over already, but for Russia’s funding anti-vax lies. in a classic case of blowback, that operation has come back home, been translated to Russian, and their wormtongue memes are crippling Russia’s own response to Covid.
That’s what FAIR is for