A German media regulatory panel has ruled that Russian state broadcaster RT must cease broadcasting its German-language programs in the country, reaffirming a ruling in December that said RT lacked the necessary license.
Germany's Commission for Licensing and Supervision of media institutions said on February 2 that no application had been made or granted for the German-language RT DE and it had "no other permit that is legitimate under European law."
RT DE started broadcasting its programs on various channels, including at its website and over satellite, in mid-December. Germany's media authority and the German state of Brandenburg ruled within weeks that RT DE was not eligible to broadcast in Germany for licensing reasons.
The ban led to the removal of RT DE from the list of channels broadcast by satellite operator Eutelsat from its satellites, though RT DE continued to stream content on its website.
German media regulators opened proceedings after RT claimed a license it holds in Serbia for satellite transmission gives it the right to broadcast in Germany under a Council of Europe agreement to which both countries are party.
The commission's ruling on February 2 said RT DE needed a license that conformed with Germany's State Media Treaty, and RT could not replace it with a different license. The commission said transmission of RT DE was "prohibited because it does not have the necessary broadcasting license."
RT DE said on February 2 that its broadcasting is in line with European law, and again referred to its Serbian broadcasting license, which it said was granted on December 6 and valid until 2029. It also said it would challenge the regulator's decision in court.
RT's editor in chief, Margarita Simonyan, called the German regulator's ruling "complete nonsense" and said the channel "will not stop broadcasting."
The moves came after YouTube blocked RT DE in December, less than three months after the U.S. video-sharing platform deleted two other German-language RT channels it accused of breaching its COVID-19 misinformation policies.
Launched in 2005 as Russia Today, state-funded RT has continually expanded its broadcasts and websites in languages including English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.
The channel has been banned in several countries, including the ex-Soviet republics of Lithuania and Latvia.
In the United states, it was required to register as a foreign agent, and British authorities have threatened to revoke its broadcasting license.
