State-Owned Russian News Channel RT Unavailable on StarHub & Singtel Due to ‘Transmission Disruption’

Russia finds itself further isolated from the world, even in the area of media.

Major tech companies around the world are restricting access to the Russian news channel RT, and Singapore is affected by this too.

“Transmission Disruption at Source” Due To Globecast’s Restrictions

RT, a Russian 24-hour English language news channel, was made available in Singapore by both Starhub and Singtel in 2009. The channel is delivered live by global content management and delivery company, Globecast.

Anyone attempting to watch RT on Starhub would get this message on the screen:

“Transmission interrupted. Fault at source – We are working with our partners to restore service as soon as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

Sintel TV also shows a similar message, saying that there’s a “transmission disruption at source” instead of just “transmission interrupted”.

A StarHub spokesperson has told CNA that the issue is from the source, which is Globecast.

Global Tech Companies Stopped Access of Russian State-Owned Networks 

This disruption comes after many global tech companies have restricted access to Russian state-owned networks, due to the invasion.

The European Union had banned Russian state media broadcasting, which includes RT, in their sanctions announced on 27 February.

UK’s broadcasting regulator Ofcom is also investigating the objectivity of news aired on RT. There are 27 investigations ongoing as of 2 March.

Russian media is also getting a clampdown on social media, with Twitter and Facebook parent company Meta imposing restrictions.

Meta would be restricting access to RT and Sputnik, another Russian network, in the EU. This is in compliance with the EU’s ban.

Twitter has banned RT and Sputnik from advertising on the site in 2017, and will be putting warnings on tweets sharing links to Russian state-affiliated media.

Meta, Microsoft, Google and YouTube will take measures to restrict Russian state media from making money through advertising on their platforms.

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Ukraine’s Official Twitter Account Calls for Russia to be Banned 

Even though Twitter has banned Russian media from advertising on the site, the official Twitter of Russia and Vladimir Putin still remains on site.

Ukraine’s official Twitter account, which has been posting updates of the war and doing advocacy work, has asked Twitter to ban Russia’s official account.

Of course, the Twitter account still remains standing. But with the flood of angry comments under all of Russia’s tweets, their account might be helping to ruin instead of promoting Russia’s image.

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Featured Image: The Straits Time’s Reader