Roku and NewsPlayer+ are joining the growing list of distribution platforms to remove the Kremlin-backed Russia Today.
Reuters has spoken to sources within the steaming platform Roku, which said it intends to remove RT from its Roku Channel Store in Europe. It follows action by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, which said it intended to restrict access to both RT and the news agency Sputnik within the European Union.
A spokesperson for NewsPlayer+ told Broadband TV News that it intended to remove RT with immediate effect. “It appears clear that RT would seek to continue to broadcast inaccurate propaganda amid events in Ukraine and so, as a responsible UK-based broadcast operator, we have therefore made the decision to suspend the channel from our line-up with immediate effect.”
The European Union is putting in plans to outlaw the retransmission of RT, while UK media regulator Ofcom is urgently investigating whether the channel meets rules on impartiality.