Russia's media regulator says local ‘BBC’ broadcasts violate TV rules

Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, says the company responsible for carrying BBC World News in Russia is guilty of “certain violations,” according to the news agency Interfax. The federal censor is currently assessing the “procedural status” of these infractions, Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky said on Thursday, without offering any further details about how the agency plans to respond.

In December 2018, Roskomnadzor launched investigations into the television station BBC World News and the network’s website. In early January 2019, the agency accused the BBC’s Russian-language service website of “broadcasting the ideological attitudes of terrorist organizations,” citing an article that quoted ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

Russian regulators openly describe their inquiry as retaliation for findings last year by the British media regulator Ofcom that the Russia state media network RT (Russia Today) violated local broadcast rules.