Johannesburg – South African satellite broadcaster Multichoice cut Russia’s RT news channel from its pan-African DStv service, saying on Thursday that EU sanctions had forced the move.
“Russia Today (Channel 407) shall not be carried on the DStv platform until further notice,” Multichoice said in a statement.
“Sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU has led to the global distributor ceasing to provide the broadcast feed to all suppliers”.
Africans looking to watch RT woke up on Thursday to a message on their screens reading: “The channel that you are trying to watch is not running at this time”.
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Multichoice’s DStv provides satellite TV across sub-Saharan Africa. It counts more than 20 million paid subscribers across the continent, but its viewership is much higher as families and communities share the service.
South Africa’s TelkomONE streaming platform also dropped RT.
The EU on Tuesday banned broadcasts by RT, formerly known as Russia Today, which it considers a propaganda organ of the Kremlin parroting disinformation over what was happening in Ukraine.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter / @MultiChoiceGRP
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