Secretary of State Tony Blinken accused the RT media network of acting as an intelligence gathering operation for the Kremlin, including relating to Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine, according to the Washington Post.
Blinken announced sanctions against the network and its parent company saying the television network and web presence “are no longer merely fire hoses of Russian propaganda and disinformation. They are engaged in covert influence activities aimed at undermining American elections and democracies, functioning like a de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus.”
“Covert influence activities are not journalism. The United States will always stand for freedom of expression,” the State Department said in a statement, noting that the European Union banned RT in 2022 after the Russian invasion.