The European Court of Justice, the EU's second-highest court, has rejected an appeal by RT France to end a ban on its broadcasts imposed in March over what the bloc said was the systematic broadcasting of disinformation by the Russian state-controlled outlet.
"The Grand Chamber of the General Court dismisses RT France's application for annulment of acts of the Council, adopted following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, temporarily prohibiting that organization from broadcasting content," the Luxembourg-based General Court said in a statement on July 27.
The European Union suspended the broadcasting activities of some Russian state-backed media, including RT, on March 1.
European media regulators have questioned the impartiality of RT over its coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine since it was launched on February 24.
The court said on July 27 that EU authorities were not required to hear RT France prior to the decision temporarily to prohibit it from any form of content broadcasting, and thus "there has been no infringement of RT France’s right to be heard."
It added that current circumstances were sufficient for the EU to take the measures it did and that the measures "do not disproportionately infringe the essential content of RT France’s freedom to conduct a business."
Launched in 2005 as Russia Today, state-funded RT has continually expanded its broadcasts and websites in languages including English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.
The channel has been banned in several countries, including the ex-Soviet republics of Lithuania and Latvia.
