Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Katrina vanden Heuvel — Registering the Cable Channel RT as a Foreign Agent Is a Threat to Press Freedom

Stigmatizing Russian broadcasting is the latest unnecessary escalation in the new Cold War.
Western elites are playing with fire in the expectation of political gain at the expense of risking war and threatening liberal democracy in a bogus attempt to defend it.

On the other hand, sates do has the right and responsibility to protect themselves from foreign influence, and tin this regard the US has also been a key player in influencing other countries.

So there lines that need to be drawn. The questions are how and where to draw them. These questions become more pressing with the sophistication of state-sponsored propaganda and disinformation apparatuses operating domestically as well as abroad, in addition to the proliferation of "alternative" media that make narrative control difficult for elites.

The Nation
Registering the Cable Channel RT as a Foreign Agent Is a Threat to Press FreedomStigmatizing Russian broadcasting is the latest unnecessary escalation in the new Cold War.
Katrina vanden Heuvel

See also
British Prime Minister Theresa May sought to divert attention from her Brexit troubles the other day with some inflammatory remarks about Russia at the annual banquet of the Lord Mayor of London…
May accused Russia of ‘threatening the international order on which we all depend,’ and concluded by saying that, ‘I have a very simple message for Russia. We know what you are doing. And you will not succeed. Because you underestimate the resilience of our democracies, the enduring attraction of free and open societies, and the commitment of western nations to the alliances that bind us.’
As if to back May up, Ciaran Martin, the head of Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre, stated yesterday that, ‘I can confirm that Russian interference, seen by the National Cyber Security Centre over the past year, has included attacks on the UK media, telecommunication and energy sectors.’ To this Martin added, ‘Russia is seeking to undermine the international system. That much is clear. The PM made the point on Monday night – international order as we know it is in danger of being eroded.’…
And then we come to question b) – does this constitute an attempt to ‘undermine the international order?’ The answer to this is fairly simple – No, and two times no! Yes, the Russians engage in espionage. They try to influence people. They always have! And so have Western countries! This isn’t an attempt to undermine the international order. This is the international order!! Let’s not be naïve about this. The international order consists of a whole set of institutions and rules which states for the most part abide by. At the same time, they occasionally break the rules, by for instance carrying out espionage on one another. Yet the order continues on nonetheless. Russia spies on Britain. Britain spies on Russia (remember the British spy rock in Moscow, anyone?) That’s how the order works.
Western elites understand this, of course. It's obvious that the faux outrage over "Russian interference" in democracy is a political ploy to protect Western elites from the political consequences of their own failed policy by creating scapegoats.

Irrussanlity
The international order
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa

See also

Debunking the latest "Russia did it" headline hysteria.
BuzzFeed’s latest “explosive” scoop on “secret” Russian financing of a 2016 election turned out to be an instant hit by burying a key detail: it was a Russian election.
Russia Feed
Scandal! Russia nefariously funded 2016 elections – its OWN

related
Earlier on Tuesday, the BuzzFeed internet portal claimed that the FBI was scrutinizing the Russian Foreign Ministry’s money transfer through Citibank, bearing a note that said the money was to be used "to finance election campaign of 2016."

According to the report, the transfer, totaling $30,000, was allegedly sent on August 3 to the Russian Embassy in Washington and was a part of more than 60 money transfers sent by the Russian Foreign Ministry to its embassies across the globe. The transfers via Citibank, totaling about $360,000, were carried out between August 3 and September 20, were directed to various countries "from Afghanistan to Niger."

The article, however, notes that on September 18, 2016, Russia held elections to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. Russian embassies and diplomatic compounds opened polling stations for voters living abroad.
TASS
Issue of ‘Russian meddling’ in US polls about to be marginalized — Russian embassy
Also

Russia Feed
BREAKING: Russia approves foreign agents bill for media in ‘mirror response’ to US

Geopolitics Alert
Russia Passes Bill That Will Label US Media As ‘Foreign Agents’
Jim Carey

2 comments:

Kaivey said...

I totally love RT. It's completely against everything I hate. War, imperialism, corrupt capitalism, oligarchs including the dodgy Russian ones, the mega rich running our government, George Soros, I can't fault it. Maybe it never criticises Russia, but maybe Russia has done nothing wrong? Who knows?

What we do know is that the US supports ISIS, has killed 20 million since WW2, has carpet bombed whole continents with bombs and Napalm, learnt from and carried on the brutal Nazi interrogation techniques, suppressed democracy in Central and South America and supported terror groups like contra rebels, backed the genocide in Indonesia, need I go on.

Now all empires are evil, but for the first time we have easy access to the truth - the internet- and the ruling elite don't like it.

Kaivey said...

Hey, and Russia is anti GMO, that's a big thumbs up too.