In the latest diplomatic escalation between Berlin and Moscow, German regulators banned the German-language version of RT, the Russian state-run media network, from operating within the country on Wednesday.

“RT DE,” the service’s official name, was prohibited “because it does not have the necessary broadcasting license,” according to the German broadcasting regulator’s oversight commission. Following a German complaint, RT’s German-language broadcasts had been blocked by its satellite broadcaster since December 22, although the broadcasts were still available online.

The German officials sought to portray the ban as a regulatory issue rather than a political one, insisting that the service had not acquired a valid broadcasting permit before the launch of its German-language network in December 2021.

However, the station insisted that the suspension was an “illegal” act of censorship that had been directed from Berlin as part of the ongoing political crisis. Prior to its suspension, the German-language network had a license within Serbia that allowed it to be broadcast in other European countries, including Germany. The regulator claimed that the Serbian license was not a “legitimate permit under European law.”

RT, known as “Russia Today” from 2005 until 2009, is owned by the Russian state-run RIA Novosti media conglomerate and receives its funding from the Russian government. In addition to its German-language program, it runs existing services in English, Spanish, French, and Arabic.

Although the network claims it has editorial independence from the Kremlin, its critics have argued that its editorial line is consistently anti-Western and pro-Moscow. It has also been accused of attempting to widen social divisions within the West with editorial content designed to appeal to both the far right and the far left, as well as circulating conspiracy theories and other misinformation.

Prior to its ban, RT DE was widely accused of appealing to a far-right audience, and its content consisted largely of reporting critical of coronavirus vaccine effectiveness. Concerns over factual inaccuracies in this reporting prompted social media giant Alphabet to ban its YouTube channel in January 2021.

Suspicions of RT’s bias have prompted several Western governments to restrict or ban the channel’s practices within their countries. The network as a whole has been banned in Latvia and Lithuania, two former Soviet states, and was forced to register as a foreign agent within the United States in 2017.

The Russian government has indicated that it will appeal the German ban on legal grounds, citing the alleged validity of the Serbian permit. While its television broadcasts have been banned, the network’s news website, from which users can stream the program, is still accessible within Germany.

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest.

Image: Reuters.