With
other things to do today no blog was planned but I woke up to see headlines to
the effect that the UK Government has taken Russia Today off air.
I don’t think this is strictly true and the impression that our Government has
indulged in censorship should be nipped in the bud.
Russia Today is beamed up to the Astra Satellite by
SES in Luxembourg and
redistributed by Freeview and FreeSat in the UK.
The European Union decreed that Russia Today must be taken off air; Luxembourg
is in the EU, so there is no RT satellite feed to distribute to UK viewers. Nothing to do with
Liz Truss or Nadine Dorries.
Out of interest I skirted close to breaking the licensing laws by tuning in
directly to the satellite feed, thereby bypassing FreeSat. It was transmitting a
blank screen and an audio test tone. FreeSat has intercepted it and put up their own logo.
It would not be technically possible for the UK to unilaterally block RT while
the Astra satellite transmits it (from a foreign country). You don’t actually need Sky or FreeSat to watch satellite TV.