Is the truth a threat to democracy?

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Is the truth a threat to democracy?RT service company in the United States received an order from the US Department of Justice to register as a “foreign agent”.

Now, to the American team RT, there is, to put it mildly, a difficult choice: either to go on the air with dice, indicating that the broadcast news allegedly are “foreign propaganda”, as well as - disclose all private information about their employees (including their addresses and salaries); or be behind bars "for breaking the law." A similar ultimatum, according to information in the media, was officially nominated by the American authorities and Sputniku.



What exactly are the US authorities trying to put pressure on journalists?

The “Act of Registration of Foreign Agents” was adopted in the United States as early as 1938, and after World War II it became a mechanism for pressing leftist intellectuals. Today, an “alien agent” in the United States is considered to be a natural or legal person who engages in political activities in the interests of a foreign principal and operates under his leadership. However, it cannot be considered a foreign agent in the United States by a media outlet controlled by American citizens. The status of the foreign agent is usually used to undermine public confidence in him and establish total control over everything related to his activities, i.e. element of intimidation. For a long time, official Washington did not dare to bring any charges against RT, since the legal position of the channel has always been flawless. All issues related to its activities in the United States are decided by the local team, and outside the United States the channel, as such, is closed not to state structures, but to a non-governmental organization. In fact, the idea of ​​calling international media as an inoperative seemed absurd in principle: in Russia, even media structures openly working for US government bodies did not give this status to this time. However, today, the American security forces (the counterintelligence section of the US National Security Department of the US Department of National Security) is responsible for monitoring compliance with the law on foreign agents seems to have decided to give up on “convention”, like the laws of their country.

And there are “compelling” reasons: firstly, the weekly audience of the RT TV version last year reached a million people in the US 8 (and this, you will agree, quite a lot), and, secondly, the editors are actively engaged in debunking rude fakes, relying on which the American authorities and the media create the necessary “picture of the world” in the minds of their own people.

Without fakes, all State Department efforts to “export democracy” and “legalize” it will not be worth a penny house. What will millions of ordinary Americans say when they realize that the incomparable Jen Psaki impudently lied to them talking about Viktor Yanukovych, who “voluntarily left Ukraine”, or that the “people dissatisfied with Asad” are specially trained actors from among the supporters of terrorist Islamist organizations?

Today, RT is tearing away the covers of lies from the “projects” of the White House, the State Department and other US government structures.

The implementation of the idea of ​​“foreign policy” will allow to kill two birds with one stone: to undermine the confidence of the American audience in what they hear from RT journalists, and to force the channel’s employees to quit or leave the country.

Margarita Simonyan, RT and Sputnik editor-in-chief, speaks openly about the reasons for the harassment: “There is no doubt that these decisions are political. We tried to fight the last few years in different ways. As soon as our audience grew to “frightening” sizes, we were first decided to destroy us, ruining our reputation and reputation. There was not a day for an article or a story about what we were "scoundrels", "the hand of the Kremlin", "Russian propaganda" and so on in American newspapers and in general in the Western media. It did not work. Then they tried to fight us in a different way. ”

By the way, only the assignment of the status of a “foreign agent” to the American elites was not enough. In order to “bite” RT more painfully according to Bloomberg information, Google top managers seized its channel from a premium package on YouTube, usually sold to advertisers.

Earlier, the US Senate Intelligence Committee invited representatives of Google, Facebook and Twitter to hear about the so-called "Russian interference" in the election of the American President 2016 of the year. There is no evidence of the notorious interference (and, moreover, the participation of RT in it) - naturally does not exist, but this did not prevent the American IT giant from actually imposing its own sanctions against the channel. The number of subscribers of the English-language channel RT is over 2 million people (which is comparable, for example, with CNN), and, of course, it is of interest to marketers. But to some extent, slowing the growth of the RT audience “sanctions” from Google will still help.

Law and justice, speak? No, did not hear ...

To attacks in the West, RT, of course, is no stranger. At one time, Ofcom’s British media regulator threatened the channel with all possible punishments because its position on events in Ukraine and Syria was different from the “official British” (such is democracy), but there are legitimate reasons to take some serious restrictive measures against RT. British officials have not been found. The maximum that they were able to “mess up” with the channel in Britain is a temporary blocking of bank accounts in 2016 that ensures the operation of RT in the United Kingdom.

In the USA, for the time being, they were limited to watering RT with mud “in private”. In 2010, the head of the US Broadcasting Board of Directors, Walter Isaacson, called the channel "the enemy of America." In 2011, Hillary Clinton (at that time, the head of the State Department) mentioned RT in the context of the alleged information war against the US and asked for money in the state budget, so to speak, for "countermeasures". In 2014, Clinton replacing Secretary of State John Kerry called RT a "propaganda mouthpiece." Recently, almost all prominent American politicians, diplomats and security officials have been passing through the channel with irritation. Passed, but did not touch ... And now - everything has changed.

The Russian side immediately warned overseas partners about the "mirror" response.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in the program “The Results of the Week” on NTV: “This is a special case when the entire available machine, including administrative resources, including propaganda in the United States, is applied to our channel. Accordingly, everything that will be done in relation to Russian journalists in general, in principle, and the RT television channel in the United States, after we qualified it as a restriction of activity, we can apply similar measures against American journalists and American media here, on the territory of the Russian Federation. "

When the United States did not heed the warnings, their media operating on the territory of the Russian Federation received the “last Chinese warning”. The editors of Voices of America and Radio Liberty (and the media that are part of the RS holding) were notified that if RT was forced to obtain the status of a foreign agent, they would face a similar fate in Russia. In addition, the US media can expect the deprivation of accreditation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and inspections by the judiciary.

However, it should be noted that the “officially American” media are not the main propaganda tool of the United States in Russia. Much more actively and more effectively lobbying the interests of the States in the Russian Federation are pro-Western-minded "social activists", bloggers and journalists of local media who regularly meet with American and European diplomats, and then the point of view of Western elites that are actively broadcasting Russian audiences to "events like" would "domestic positions. A thorough check of the activities of these individuals in the context of the connection of their activities with communication with foreign government agencies would have hit Western propaganda much more ...

Coming back to the situation with the actual problems of RT in the USA, we must recognize that in all this stories, there is, relatively speaking, a positive side. Americans once again showed the whole world what their praised “democracy” and “legality” really stand for. And this, too, is very, very good. After all, if anyone discredits the authorities of Western countries best of all, it is they themselves ...
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34 comments
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  1. +4
    16 October 2017 15: 17
    RT is the same propaganda machine on our part as the American one. RT do not lie? I doubt very much about the burgers in honor of Putin who was sold in the USA they have already been exposed. They are silent in a rag)
    1. 0
      16 October 2017 20: 19
      We are waiting for the foreign media to be banned in Russia, and the new curtain will shut
      1. +1
        16 October 2017 23: 31
        Sharansky, we and the United States exist in the same capitalist system.
        Or do you think that our capitalism is more with a human face.
        When we exit the market flea market and enter the social state, then we may have something to change for the better. In the meantime, only profit and loot.
        1. +2
          16 October 2017 23: 42
          Quote: stas
          we and the United States exist in the same capitalist system.

          Of course in one!
          Quote: stas
          In the meantime, only profit and loot.

          You very accurately noticed! good drinks
          we are pumping oil and gas hydrocarbons to the glory of Vovanedmedputshoyulafrovyh, we are waiting for new taxes, as well as new perpendicular planoffs negative
          1. +1
            17 October 2017 02: 20
            Quote: Stroporez
            we are pumping oil and gas hydrocarbons to the glory of Vovanedmedputshoyulafrovyh, we are waiting for new taxes, as well as new perpendicular planoffs

            ABOUT!! miZter Stroporez ... I read your comments here ... You are tokens for Avgan, a cool person, and a fierce Putinophobe. Why don’t you go to politics ?? I looked like that if in the next election, you put your candidacy, everyone will vote for you. Especially since you are a loser ...

            Quote: Stroporez
            pumping oil and gas hydrocarbons for glory

            And what to pump in your glory? so no one knows you ... And it seems to me not very much that you are worthy.
            Quote: Stroporez
            vovanomedputshoygulafrovyh,

            there will be more regalia and achievements. Isn’t it?
            For free decided to enter paradise? So it’s not in Russia. Well, or scold the parent.
      2. +1
        17 October 2017 12: 25
        Quote: Sharansky
        We are waiting for the foreign media to be banned in Russia, and the new curtain will shut

        And what? Have not all the mattresses SMRAD been thrown out of Russia yet? Weird! laughing It seems that we live in Russia, not in Estonia! Why are we slowing down?
        Or are the Yankees so firmly holding our power for Faberge? Judging by the rhetoric of our officials - they are holding! Yes, how! But with what? Surely the children and loot from the West have not yet been taken out, hoping that everything will resolve?
    2. +1
      17 October 2017 02: 02
      Quote: spirit
      RT is the same propaganda machine on our part as the American one. RT do not lie?

      Is theirs better than ours? Well, I congratulate you ... Caught a lie ?? so brag ...
      Personally, I like RT, although I understand it from the fifth to the tenth. But the event was definitely certain. And then your shitty media drive a hat ... And do not understand the news or something else shnyaga ...
      1. +1
        17 October 2017 12: 13
        Already Moskvich you have verbal diarrhea, as in Moscow ECHO.
        And why did you buy a house in Bulgaria - out of love for Moscow?
        1. 0
          17 October 2017 12: 45
          From love to parents. But I also love Moscow.
  2. 0
    16 October 2017 15: 48
    Well, why be indignant. RUSSIAN journalists are always in such a reverence before the media of the West. So get it. Well, who wants to share influence and the right to truth?
  3. 0
    16 October 2017 16: 42
    Democracy is anything, BUT not what we think / think!
    1. 0
      16 October 2017 22: 03

      Democracy is a beautiful western wrapper of all lawlessness that is happening all over the world (real, not "civilized" western ....
  4. +1
    16 October 2017 16: 55
    Close, RT, and it's sad.
    Penguins have already seen enough warnings from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the example of a reaction to lawlessness with diplomatic missions, so this is definitely not to scare them.
    1. 0
      16 October 2017 19: 47
      Broadcasting should be objective, and RT has problems with it. The latter had every chance to become a new euronews, but in the end they reached the level of a sharashkin office. laughing
      1. 0
        17 October 2017 07: 21
        Justify what they are not objective? specific news, where did they lie?
        1. +1
          17 October 2017 14: 01
          News should be neutral in reporting. A person who has looked / read / listened must himself draw conclusions from a specific situation. What about RT? True - the same Kiselevschina. request
          1. 0
            18 October 2017 05: 35
            Give specifics, for some reason you are again embarking on philosophical discourse. The specifics with links.
            1. 0
              18 October 2017 10: 49
              Go to the RT website and read the news. Once again I say - the media should be neutral in the presentation of the material. fool
              1. 0
                18 October 2017 13: 04
                Often I read them and in the news section I have never found any color. Everything is dry. Maybe you read something in the Opinions section? Or already give specifics? Otherwise, it is not there, and your words are your personal opinion. Justified did not work, but as an opinion cho would not
                1. 0
                  18 October 2017 16: 19
                  The general message is anti-American and anti-European. Approximately like a topwar, but a little in a different weight category.
        2. 0
          17 October 2017 19: 03
          Quote: gaura
          Justify what they are not objective? specific news, where did they lie?

          for example, the news about Putinburger. Direct frank lie RT. This is one of the last.
          And about the "crucified boy" this is generally a textbook example of the most arrogant lie. Fake reports "from the scene" in batches. Links to all sorts of fake twitter and so on and so forth can be considered a long time.
          1. 0
            18 October 2017 05: 34
            So give a link to the news about the boy? She was at the first channel, Kiselev, but on RT I do not remember. Find. And a link to RT about Putinburger also attach. Well, or a screen from Yandex that he had such news. I did not find, everyone was checked in there, but there was no RT.
            1. 0
              18 October 2017 11: 04
              everything is saved in the web archive, please
              https://web.archive.org/web/20140714145647/http:/
              /rt.com/shows/the-truthseeker/172412-ukraine-dege
              neration-into-genocide
              and Putinburger, although they have deleted, but nothing disappears on the Internet
              1. 0
                18 October 2017 13: 00
                Ruptly is not RT. So that either disappeared or was not.
                The link about the crucified boy is not said. Or do you call this "babies and forcing their mothers to watch" like that? There is nothing here about the boy, and the video is not there.
                1. 0
                  18 October 2017 13: 21
                  RUPTLY is a division of RT in Germany, so no need for Lala.
                  https://russian.rt.com/inotv/2013-09-23/RUPTLY--r
                  ossijskoe-informationnoe-videoagentstvo

                  The logo is not hinting at anything, is it?
                  And they were obliged to remove them by court order as an impudent lie.
                  Quote: gaura
                  Or do you call this "babies and forcing their mothers to watch" like that? There is nothing here about the boy, and the video is not there.

                  I quote:
                  'crucifying' babies and forcing their mothers to watch - unspeakable atrocities under a complete mainstream media blackout.
                  'crucifying' babies help translate or are you able to?
  5. +1
    16 October 2017 17: 49
    Is the truth a threat to democracy?

    I would say more precisely: Truth is a threat to any democracy Yes
    1. MrK
      +1
      16 October 2017 19: 12
      Quote: You Vlad
      Truth is a threat to any democracy

      Well, then most members of the Government of the Russian Federation need to be registered as foreign agents
  6. +2
    16 October 2017 18: 07
    Since November 1, censorship on the Internet has been tightened (proxies and VPN exit are also blocked)
    Is there an alternative point of view on our television?
    Law and justice, speak? No, did not hear ...
  7. +1
    16 October 2017 18: 48
    When we announce foreign agents as foreign agents, this is correct. When...
    In general, democracy in principle cannot stand the truth. Moreover, the closer democracy is to real, one hundred percent, "theoretically" correct, democracy, the truth is worse for it. I wrote an article about it, exchanged comments with people for a long time, but I'm still not sure that at least someone understood me.
    In general, I will write the next article about power. The most misunderstood question at the moment. Although the topic is hot, no matter how I get burned ...
    I can not resist. If we consider a certain state from the point of view of systems engineering, then its survival under democratic rule is very, very controversial. Due to the fact that decisions in crisis situations in democracy are made slowly and usually incorrectly. However, it is possible to extend the existence of such a state if at its level it does not have sufficiently strong competitors. There is no one to devour it, understand? A considerable amount of time will be required before it is destroyed by the growing internal contradictions, again resolved slowly and to a large extent incorrectly. Doesn’t resemble anything?
  8. +2
    16 October 2017 22: 12
    Quote: Ronald Reagan
    Broadcasting should be objective, and RT has problems with it. The latter had every chance to become a new euronews, but in the end they reached the level of a sharashkin office. laughing

    Well for you, Ronnie, and the USSR was an evil empire. Just what is good for me is a bone in your throat for you.
  9. 0
    16 October 2017 23: 47
    Well, let the Foreign Ministry express a "concern" .. Or even a "protest"!
  10. 0
    17 October 2017 01: 00
    If RT is true, then I am the pope. Pure water fake. One has only to recall the girl Lisa "raped by Muslims" and the child "crucified" by ukrofascists. I have no words. Just feces.
    1. +1
      17 October 2017 07: 29
      I didn’t find news about the “crucified” boy on the RT website, can you give the link or do you have a general impression of the news? I remember Kiselev broadcast about this and the first channel, but I don’t remember RT. Not to say about the "raped girl" they actually could not. They did not blind this fake, but the girl herself. If they had not told, but it would have been true, I think it would have been much worse for their reputation. Or do they need to wait for 2-3 months of the end of the investigation before publication? And what kind of "news" will this be? Can you remember anything else, pope?
  11. 0
    17 October 2017 16: 21
    RT service company in the United States received an order from the US Department of Justice to register as a “foreign agent”.

    The same law applies in Russia. Damn, what's the problem?

"Right Sector" (banned in Russia), "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) (banned in Russia), ISIS (banned in Russia), "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra" (banned in Russia) , Taliban (banned in Russia), Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), Anti-Corruption Foundation (banned in Russia), Navalny Headquarters (banned in Russia), Facebook (banned in Russia), Instagram (banned in Russia), Meta (banned in Russia), Misanthropic Division (banned in Russia), Azov (banned in Russia), Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia), Aum Shinrikyo (banned in Russia), AUE (banned in Russia), UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia), Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (banned in Russia), Legion “Freedom of Russia” (armed formation, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation and banned)

“Non-profit organizations, unregistered public associations or individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent,” as well as media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent: “Medusa”; "Voice of America"; "Realities"; "Present time"; "Radio Freedom"; Ponomarev; Savitskaya; Markelov; Kamalyagin; Apakhonchich; Makarevich; Dud; Gordon; Zhdanov; Medvedev; Fedorov; "Owl"; "Alliance of Doctors"; "RKK" "Levada Center"; "Memorial"; "Voice"; "Person and law"; "Rain"; "Mediazone"; "Deutsche Welle"; QMS "Caucasian Knot"; "Insider"; "New Newspaper"