Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
It’s up to Ofcom. I would think it unlikely they would see their role as being as proscriptive as designating which sources RT UK’s content may come from. I think that would be impossible to police, and in any case the problem with RT is not in the content of any individual programme but in its overall editorial policy. It is designed subtly to undermine UK national life and institutions in its daily choices around what to say and what not to say, and who to have say them. It surrounds that with a generous helping of regular news material by way of camouflage.
Ultimately Ofcom can dictate whether any broadcaster is permitted to spew forth its content across the airwaves within the UK. Freeview transmitters will not transmit its signals if Ofcom tells their owners not to. And the various UK companies providing EPG services can also be forbidden from doing so, as I understand that technically an EPG itself relies on a broadcast signal, which under UK law would require a broadcast licence.
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I was thinking that if Ofcom doesn't ban RT, but that their feed is cut off from Europe because of the EU ban, that they might still lawfully be able to broadcast to the UK from Millbank using locally produced content.
It would be foolish UK staff that would attempt to do this from London though.
If RT was banned by Ofcom, it would have to be removed from all EPG's, but satellite users would still be able to tune it in manually. However, an EU ban would prevent it from being uplinked in the first place.
I've since been told by professional broadcast staff that (for various reasons) it's very unlikely that Millbank has a facility to uplink RT.
If the EU ban results in the loss of the satellite feed and, assuming that this is where Freeview get their feed from it'll go off air in the UK altogether by default.
As we won't have officially banned it, I'm hoping that Putin may allow our journalists to remain in Russia. There again...