European Parliament to call on EU countries to expand sanctions against Russian media

The European Parliament in its new resolution will call on the EU countries to expand sanctions against the Russian media under the pretext of alleged "disinformation". Information about this appeared on January 23 on the body's website ahead of the vote on the document.

"The European Parliament calls on the EU to expand sanctions against Russian media <...> and calls on member states [of the association] to quickly and comprehensively implement these sanctions," reads the published text of the resolution.

At the same time, the document expresses concern about the statements of CEO of Meta (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) Mark Zuckerberg's statements about relaxing the rules of fact-checking and moderation on his platforms.

Earlier, on January 13, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russian journalists are entrusted with the most important mission of countering lies and disinformation, which Russia's adversaries use as an information weapon against its people.

Before that, at the end of December 2024, the Telegram channels of Izvestiya and a number of other Russian media outlets were blocked in a number of European countries. The Foreign Ministry promised that such actions would not go unanswered.

In recent years, Russian media have often been subjected to various restrictions in Western countries, including the EU. Thus, in late June, Brussels approved a ban on access to Izvestiya, as well as RIA Novosti, Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Voice of Europe.