By Serge Duchêne with AFP
Published on
France’s media regulator has ordered internet service providers to block 35 Russian media websites and to dereference four streaming platforms that provide access to sanctioned Russian television and radio channels.
ARCOM announced on Wednesday that it had sent formal notices to internet providers, domain name resolution systems and search engines to block and dereference the websites in accordance with EU sanctions.
The blocked websites include links leading to Sputnik and RT in French, according to an ARCOM statement.
The regulator also instructed search engines to remove from search results the pages of four streaming platforms that provide access to Russian television and radio services under EU sanctions.
Earlier channel bans
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, French satellite operator Eutelsat stopped broadcasting Russian channels NTV Mir, Rossiya 1, Perviy Kanal and NTV at ARCOM’s request.
“Their programmes devoted to the war in Ukraine contained incitements to hatred and violence as well as failures to provide honest information,” the regulator said.
ARCOM also stopped the broadcasting of RT France, the French-language version of Russian state-run outlet RT, in March 2022 following an EU decision banning RT throughout its territory.
The EU sanctioned RT on 2 March 2022, days after Moscow launched its all-out war, prohibiting any transmission and distribution of RT channels in or towards the 27-member bloc.
Further blockades have followed since, including those of the STS and Kanal 5 channels last year.
ARCOM, created in January 2022 from the merger of France’s High Audiovisual Council and the High Authority for the Distribution of Works and Protection of Rights on the Internet, enforces media regulation and fights digital piracy.
The regulator said it will “continue to use all the means at its disposal to stop the distribution in France of Russian media targeted by European sanctions, as well as the republication of their content by online platforms accessible in France”.
