A range of major international news networks announced Friday they will stop broadcasting from Russia following threats by Moscow to imprison their reporters for using words like “invasion” and “war” to describe its attack on Ukraine.
CBS News, ABC News, CNN, Bloomberg, the BBC and CBC all have announced they are not broadcasting from Russia at present due to Moscow’s crackdown on free speech and news coverage that deviates from the government’s false war narrative.
The announcement came after Russia blocked access to the websites of news outlets such as the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Deutsche Welle (DW).
Russia on Friday also blocked access to Facebook and Twitter.
Russian leaders insist – in the face of concrete documentation to the contrary – that its attacking forces are not targeting civilian areas in Ukraine, among other claims.
“Because of the new censorship law passed in Russia today, some Western networks including ABC News are not broadcasting from the country tonight,” ABC News said in a statement to the New York Post.
“We will continue to assess the situation and determine what this means for the safety of our teams on the ground.”
Likewise, BBC Director-General Tim Davie said, “The safety of our staff is paramount, and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs.”
Journalists who call the invasion of Ukraine a “war,” or report on Kremlin military setbacks and civilian deaths, would face three years in prison under the law passed Friday by the Russian Parliament. The punishment could rise to 15 years behind bars for cases that led to “severe consequences.”
