In Germany, an illegal streaming service that broadcast banned Russian propaganda channels, such as RT and "Russia 1," has been blocked, according to DW.
The service was run by a married couple from Karlsruhe. For over two years, the couple unlawfully retransmitted Russian channels online, despite the ban on their broadcast in Germany.
During raids, German customs officers seized broadcasting equipment, documents confirming the operation, and €40,000 in cash. Additionally, €120,000 in illegal streaming profits were confiscated, and the internet domain used for the service was blocked.
The couple faces up to one year in prison for violating sanctions.
The ban on broadcasting Russian propaganda channels like RT and "Russia 1" was imposed in Germany in 2022. These measures were taken because the media outlets threaten public order and security by spreading disinformation and military propaganda, legitimizing Russian aggression and undermining support for Ukraine.
This year, the German authorities uncovered one of the largest attempts to manipulate public opinion on the social media platform X. A network of over 50,000 fake accounts, posting up to 200,000 posts daily, aimed to convince Germans that their government's support for Ukraine was supposedly harming Germany's welfare. The network sought to "legitimize" these claims by presenting them as opinions published by reputable news agencies. However, its primary goal was to amplify already existing anti-Ukrainian sentiments.
