WTF?
Sky TV stops broadcasting Russia Today in light of war on Ukraine
Sky Television has stopped broadcasting Russia Today in the wake of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine and criticism of the Russian state-controlled channel.
RT is still listed on Sky’s menu, but with the message that it is “currently unavailable”.
Sky spokeswoman Chris Major said Sky had decided to suspend showing RT “in light of the rapidly unfolding situation in Ukraine”.
“As a responsible broadcaster, we take great care to ensure we comply with the Code of Broadcasting Standards. We have had ongoing dialogue with the BSA over the past few days, and have received complaints from a number of customers,” she said.
I am a sky customer, and I use it for the news and I watch RT because I want to know what the Russian Government is trying to say, especially during a war!
How dare Sky TV act as my news censor?
Did they cut CNN during America’s invasion of Iraq?
Like fuck they did!
CNN was 24/7.
I do not support Putin, his violence or his war.
B-U-T
After the obscenity of the Iraq invasion, the West is in no fucking position to lecture Russia on International Law or morality!
It is not up to SKY TV as a corporate to censor my news because the country has gone to war.
We need to know more than ever how Russia is attempting to shape this terrible conflict, to have SKY TV step in and censor that is a political decision and I don’t look to SKY TV for my fucking political decisions!
It is cowardly and it is fucking gutless.
Shame on you Sky TV.
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On the other hand you could argue that denial of service limits Putin’s ability to spread his propaganda and lies. Dictators need an audience and denying them one is not necessarily a bad move.
With all due respect Mike, who the fuck are you to make that decision on my behalf?
I didn’t make the decision, Sky did. Just saying that if you deny an attention seeker publicity it tends to take the wind out his sails a bit.
As for wtf am I?
I’ve been posting on this blog several years now.
A person with points of view to make as opposed to a mindless troll who just damns everything.
Btw I don’t watch Sky because most of it is load of rubbish.
” Btw I don’t watch Sky because most of it is load of rubbish ”
Yeah I pulled the plug 18 months ago for a variety of reasons including the way SKY treat their existing customers by not offering the deals they were giving people who were signing up , and when they started they were AD FREE now you pay more for less quality content and having to watch ads that insult your intelligence.
But once again there is no competition to make SKY work for their money or value their customer base.
Now all the stuff they used to provide once is now on the net for a smidgen of what they want in yearly fees and let’s face it only the sport provides them with the money to keep going.
I think that is crux of the matter. You paid for a given number of channels, including RT, when you signed up. With no rebate offered for the cancellation, this is a breach of terms of service. It is almost as bad as not getting the Champions or Premier League on the sports channels! :-0
The issue Mike raises is a good one but let’s pause and think about this. Showing Putin’s propaganda in NZ is unlikely to sway public opinion in Aotearoa or the overall outcome of the war. There may be some in the small (actual) audience for RT here in NZ who will be swayed by its message, but even then, so what? Will in translate into popular protests in favour of Putin? Will it change government policy towards Russia? At best it will cause some heated discussions around the dinner
table or office kettle with crusty contrarians.
It should be left to Sky subscribers to decide if they want to watch RT or not. They can cancel their subscriptions if they are that incensed about it being aired on Sky. Blocking all of us from watching RT–and I was enjoying watching its parallel universe interpretation of reality until Sky blacked it out–was an unwarranted overreach. I say solidarity with the Ukrainian nation, but now let’s bring back RT because if Putin fails to deliver on his promises of victory and a greater Russia as a result, then it will be RT that will best cover the knife fight that will ensue in and out of the Kremlin.
Agree 100% with you Bomber.
Sky is being arrogant and woke posturing.
I find RT is actually interesting as it gives a different take on many things.
It balances the propaganda on most western media..
RT is still available online
Ra Henare. Yes, I’ve been watching RT online, and there’s been some dispassionate reporting throughout; nevertheless Sky’s censorship is outrageous, and a breach of contract.
I complained to sky about this. Said well give me another news channel then. I paid for x amount of channels.They were quite rude and forth right on the phone …so I am still hounding them.
Sky is sunset tech anyway, you are only shoving them faster into oblivion by driving a hard bargain.
Largely agree, there is a danger of propaganda influences, maybe that could promote greater filtering and discernment in a truely adaptive society (a skill then applicable to our own media). What happened to ‘the solution to bad speech is better speech’ etc?
Far more important is the ability to attempt some sense of what the mood and thinking is among Russian elites and Russian people, which might help to empathise and avoid misreading them. Robert McNamara (ex-US Secretary of Defence and a key architect of the Vietnam War) speaks to this point (to 5:15).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHdMeHxDg90&t=78s
Just watched the full doco Fog Of War last week. Great viewing. Also poltical philosopher Saul used McNamara has a detailed tragic example of everything wrong with technocratic power.
Moon_rekt – Do you have a link for the Saul piece?
Yes the Fog of War is excellent as is the follow up piece. Not to excuse the terrible things McNamara put in motion but it’s rare to have a relatively candid refection on events from someone in his position. In strikes me more as a warning, much the same themes have been explored since antiquity but we don’t have scope to make mistakes with nuclear weapons.
What kind of self described Anarchist has a Sky subscription?
To put Sky’s perceived ‘censorship’ into context:
Sky receives its RT feed from a satellite operator based in Luxembourg (SES).
SES has been instructed to remove RT due to EU sanctions against the broadcaster brought in on Tuesday.
You could be making a mistake in assuming it was Sky being the censor.
the point is ‘free speech’ yes rt generally follows the putin line..is our media any different in it’s service to it’s overlords?….there are plenty of english language outlets out there try ’em all decide for y’self we’re supposed to be adults, public laziness doesn’t count as a reason….banning rt is petty at best, cowardice at worst….the modern equivalent of shooting the messenger….though if we could shitcan fox and sky australia I might soften my position.
The problem is that most satellite ‘news’ chennels now are not news, they’re PR. I haven’t watched RT in a long time, but I do remember times when I did watch it and found some stories blatantly untrue. But I mean, it’s hardly any different from the Chinese channel, or Fox News. They all gave up reporting facts a long time ago and just present the news in a way that reinforces the narrative they want to present. I can’t get upset at sky blocking a tv channel from a country where journalists aren’t free to report what they see. If they’re just reading a script handed to them by the Kremlin then it is not news but blatant propaganda. What value is there in allowing this to air? Would we happily let a rich antivaxxer start a news network and broadcast 24/7 on Sky? If not, how is this any different to RT?
I don’t find the NZ tv news channels to be in the same league. Certainly nothing as one-eyed as the NZ Herald’s stable of contributors. If anything, the TV journo’s are guilty of getting a bit chummy with the politicians they’re reporting on but I don’t believe for a moment they deliberatly set out to deceive in their reporting, or to do politicians bidding by skewing the narrative.
The Russia Today channel is free to air on Optus D2 & while it takes a bit of knowledge & equipment many people could find a way to receive it if they wanted to. Sky TV should not surprise you as there is not much integrity involved in selling satellite TV subscriptions.
It looks like I am out of touch, I went to tune it in on their old frequency but could not find it, I checked lyngsat for current settings & RT is not listed anymore.
Agree with you. Censorship is the first step in a war. I want to hear all sides of this story. Sky has no right to exert this censorship and tell me what I can watch.
Sky TV has about 10 years before it folds up…due to Internet based services…also, Sky TV pulling shit like this does not help Sky TV.
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