Quotes from Isis leader broadcast by BBC could have violated anti-extremism legislation, says regulatorRussia has accused the BBC of promoting terrorist propaganda and threatened legal action against the British public broadcaster in a move that looks set to escalate a spiralling media dispute between London and Moscow.Roskomnadzor, the Russian state media regulator, said the material in question concerned quotes from a speech by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, and could be in violation of Russian anti-extremism legislation. Isis is a banned organisation in Russia and media outlets are barred from publishing the statements of its leaders or supporters.“Checks are underway into whether the BBC’s internet sites comply with Russian law. To date, material has been uncovered which transmits the ideological principles of a terrorist group,” the regulator said in a statement on Thursday. The investigation by Roskomnadzor into the BBC World News channel and BBC websites, both of which are available in Russia, was launched in late December. It was announced just hours after the British media regulator, Ofcom, said that RT, the Kremlin-funded broadcaster, had broken impartiality rules over its reports on the Salisbury novichok poisonings. Ofcom is considering sanctions against RT that could include large fines or even the loss of its licence to broadcast in Britain.Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, confirmed in December that the investigation into the BBC was... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]