State-funded broadcaster: Court confirms ban on broadcasting Russia Today in Germany

The program worked on air in December 2021 in various ways. It was in German and aimed at the German market. Because the media authority had not applied for the required broadcasting license, the media regulator initiated proceedings against the company. At the beginning of February 2022, it issued a broadcast ban.

The GmbH, which was founded in 2014 under German law and is now in liquidation and no longer conducts any business activities, defended itself against this in court. First in March 2023 in the expedited procedure – and now also in the main procedure. From the court’s point of view, the media authority’s decision cannot be objected to.

Court: independent station

It was undisputed in court that there was no broadcasting permit. The focus was on the question of whether this is even necessary. From the perspective of the Russian channel, this was not necessary. It was said that only content was produced in Germany. It is not its own station.

The court saw it differently: the media authority rightly viewed the plaintiff as the organizer of the broadcasting program RT DE, which required licensing. The broadcaster itself announced that it had editorial responsibility for the content broadcast in Germany – and not in Russia. From the court’s point of view, there was no valid evidence to support the claim that it was only a supplier of program parts for the Moscow company TV-Novosti.

The media authority was pleased that its actions were declared legal. “With today’s ruling, the court confirms that RT DE was a broadcaster based in Berlin – and that it broadcast without a license,” explained director Eva Flecken.

The judgment is not final. However, the broadcaster can apply for approval of the appeal by the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court.