Russia expels The official media of Canada

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has had its Moscow headquarters closed and its journalists’ visas and accreditations withdrawn by Russia. The move is retaliation for Ottawa’s decision to ban RT in March, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“With regret, we continue to notice open attacks on the Russian media from the countries of the so-called collective West who call themselves civilized,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters. “A decision has been taken to make retaliatory – I emphasize, retaliatory – measures about the actions of Canada.”

Russia’s response comes two months after Ottawa banned both English and French RT broadcasts. “The ongoing authorization to disseminate RT and RT France is not in the public interest,” the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) stated on March 16.

The CRTC claimed that RT’s programming was “not consistent” with Canadian standards or “policy objectives,” and that it was concerned that it was intended to “undermine another country’s sovereignty, demean Canadians of a particular ethnic background, and undermine democratic institutions within Canada.” Following a campaign of complaints by ethnic Ukrainian organizations, the judgment was made public.

Since the beginning of the year, the UK, EU, and Australian governments have all blocked RT and other Russian news companies.