Russian authorities today called for the closure of two independent media outlets, the Dojd television network and the Moscow-based Echo radio station, as authorities sought to strengthen control of the media through the invasion of Ukraine, according to the Dojd television network.
“The Attorney General’s Office has requested that access to the Dojd (Internet TV channel) and the (Moscow) Echo radio station be denied,” Dodj said on his Twitter account.
The liberal radio station Echo of Moscow in the Russian capital is no longer on the air, Alexei Venediktov, his chief and one of Russia’s most prominent journalists, told the Telegram and other social media.
According to Dojd (“Rain”, in Russian), the two media outlets are accused of rebroadcasting “calls for extremist and violent acts” and publishing information “deliberately incorrect about the activities of Russian military personnel”.
Shortly afterwards, journalists from the French Agency in Russia noted that the websites of the two media outlets were not accessible.
The Dojd Internet network and the Moscow-based Echo radio station, along with the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, stood out for not following the Kremlin in its coverage of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, as did the vast majority.
Russian authorities have banned the media from using information other than that provided by the Kremlin, the military and various ministries, which portrays the invasion of Ukraine as a simple “special operation” limited to the east of the country.
Russia is regularly presented by non-governmental organizations as one of the most restrictive countries in the world in terms of press freedom.
The country is thus ranked 150th out of a total of 180 countries in the latest Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders.
Several media outlets, including the Dojd channel, have been described by authorities as “foreign agents”, a disgraceful label aimed at discrediting them in the eyes of advertisers and the public and complicating their work with overwhelming bureaucracy.
Echo of Moscow, part of the Gazprom gas giant, has always sought to cultivate its independence and is one of the country’s most respected media outlets.
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