Euronews banned in Russia
March 22, 2022
Euronews has joined other news outlets with the Russian media authority, pulling the international news channel off-air and blocking its websites in Russia.
Noting that it has not received any official communication, Euronews strongly rejects the allegations of “fake news” and of calling citizens to protest, with the unacceptable threat of criminal liability. We firmly condemn this intolerable restriction imposed on the millions of people across Russia who relied on Euronews, more than ever, to get impartial fact-based news, in a context of heightened disinformation and propaganda.
Under article 19 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which Russia is a signatory, we call on the Russian media authority to unblock Euronews and allow Russian people to “hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”, as set by the declaration.
Euronews reserves the right to pursue all legal avenues to continue to freely broadcast in Russia the truth about the war.
For over 20 years, Euronews’ unique Russian-language offer on the market has been an important independent source of information for millions of Russians, reaching over 30 million TV households and many more people on its digital platforms. Euronews is not only the most watched, but also the most well known and trusted international news brand in Russia.
Millions of Russians who trust us appreciate our core values of independence, impartiality and pluralism. The unacceptable censorship that we are facing today is further proof that our coverage has continued, since the beginning of the war, to be true to these values. We will not compromise on them, nor will we apologise for who we are.
Our message to the Russian-speaking audiences is clear: we will stand by our mission to continue to provide you with independent, impartial and pluralistic information.
The live TV feed of Euronews’ Russian-language edition will continue to be available on its digital platforms, which can be accessed via a VPN. Further distribution solutions are currently being explored and will be communicated in due course.
Euronews’ Russian-language edition continues to provide this service to many other countries. Traffic to its digital platforms has surged since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In Russia itself, in Belarus, Kazakhstan or Ukraine – to name just these countries – Euronews’ digital audiences have tripled in the last month.