Russia Today's editor-in-chief: the TV channel may leave the USA
Pressure from US authorities could force Russia Today TV channel to stop its activities in the USA, said RT’s editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan.
"In the worst-case scenario, we leave the territory of the United States, and we do not broadcast there anymore. In the worst-case scenario, Russia responds in the same way to the American media. But I would not like this to happen, as I'm a journalist myself," Simonyan said in an interview with Itogi Nedeli (Weekly Summary) on NTV channel, according to RIA Novosti.
However, she explained that even in this case, the TV channel will try to use all other available methods of communication with the American audience. "What they are doing to us is, in fact, they are driving us out of the country. They are putting us in such conditions now in which we will not be able to work. Here it is: the vaunted freedom of speech. Why are they doing this? Because, as it seems to them, we showed a different point of view, and this influenced their elections," Simonyan said.
On September 11, the US Department of Justice required from the company, which serves the RT America television channel, to register as a foreign agent in accordance with the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). Then Simonyan stated that "Russia's retaliatory measures would be the same." "Who needs this and why? It is not us, and it is not Russia, absolutely," the editor-in-chief assured.
The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, called this demand "fights without rules" and promised to respond. "When ‘fights without rules’ begin, the law gets distorted and turns into an instrument for destroying a TV company. In such case, every step in relation to the Russian media will receive an appropriate response," Zakharova said then.
In her opinion, the USA’s claims against RT, as well as against the Sputnik portal, "contradict the American principles of freedom of speech." She emphasized that Russia adhered to all international provisions on freedom of speech.