Germany international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) has launched a new Russian-language TikTok channel, expanding its outreach shortly after Russian authorities designated the organisation as “undesirable.”
“Our users rely on us to continue providing unbiased information. The Kremlin is attempting to prevent that by criminalising DW, and we are responding by stepping up our efforts,” said Alexandra von Nahmen, Head of DW’s Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe department. “Young Russians are highly familiar with censorship circumvention tools such as VPNs and continue to use TikTok despite restrictions. That is the space we are moving into.”
The new TikTok channel also targets Russian-speaking audiences in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Serbia and other countries in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet region where Russian-speaking minorities live. The channel aims to counter one-sided propaganda in Russian state media by offering independent information.
TikTok currently has few influential, credible media outlets operating Russian-language accounts – a niche DW intends to fill by reaching younger audiences in their own digital environment and promoting reflection and independent opinions. Content on the channel will examine topics from a global perspective and explain how Germany and Europe function.
In the first post on the new TikTok-account dw_russian, DW Director General Barbara Massing says: “Russia may label us an undesirable organisation – that will not deter us.”
She adds: “Anyone who shares our content or collaborates with us risks criminal prosecution in Russia in the future – in extreme cases even imprisonment. This applies even to our Russian employees working from Germany. This criminalisation is unacceptable. Nevertheless, we will continue – now also on TikTok. For all those who seek free information to form their own opinion.”
Despite blocks and censorship, DW’s Russian-language programming reaches around 10 million people each week through platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and other social media, as well as Telegram channels, newsletters, the “Svoboda” satellite project run by Reporters Without Borders and the DW website. Tools designed to bypass internet censorship, such as the recently launched DW Access app, play a key role in reaching audiences. Russian-language exile media outlets also carry DW.
