The Prosecutor General's Office demanded to block Dozhd* and Ekho Moskvy

The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation demanded that Roskomnadzor limit access to the media resources of the Dozhd TV channel* and the Ekho Moskvy radio station. The department explained this decision by the “systematic posting” of “false” information about the fighting in Ukraine, as well as calls for extremism and violence, on the websites of these media outlets.

“The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation sent proposals to the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network, Roskomnadzor and Gazprom Media to immediately eliminate the violations of the law, as well as the causes and conditions that contributed to them, up to and including immediate shutdown,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement.

The websites of both media outlets have already begun to be blocked in Russia, and Ekho Moskvy has also been cut off from the airwaves. According to the radio station's editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov, Ekho Moskvy did not receive notifications about the claims of the Prosecutor General's Office, he is sure that the editorial office did not violate the law. Venediktov reported that Ekho Moskvy would appeal the decision to block and go off the air in court. Now the broadcasts of “Echo” and “Dozhd”* are available on their Youtube channels.

The notification sent to the Dozhd TV channel* does not indicate specific materials that violate Russian laws. It says that the channel “purposefully and systematically” publishes false information about the fighting in Ukraine and calls on Russians to participate in rallies.

*Included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of media “foreign agents”