Russia opens investigation against ‘BBC’ in retaliation for British regulators' case against ‘RT’

A day after Britain’s broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, accused the Russian state news network RT of violating British rules on impartiality, Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, retaliated by opening an investigation into the television station BBC World News and the BBC’s website, reviewing the outlets for general compliance with Russian laws. Roskomnadzor openly says its actions are a response to Ofcom’s case against RT.

On December 20, Ofcom announced that RT “broke broadcasting rules by failing to preserve due impartiality in seven news and current affairs programs over a six-week period, identifying two broadcasts of “Sputnik,” two broadcasts of “News,” and three episodes of the “debate” show “Crosstalk.” Ofcom says RT now has the opportunity to “make representations” to the agency, before it decides how to proceed. Penalties could range from a fine to the revocation of RT’s British broadcasting license.

Since 2011, when RT started broadcasting in Great Britain, RT has violated the country’s broadcasting rules on 15 occasions.