French regulator orders two Russian channels banned

France’s Arcom has cited the 2014 sanctions as a reason for the decision

The French telecommunications regulator has demanded that a local satellite operator cease broadcasting two Russian entertainment channels. The agency, called Arcom, cited the 2014 sanctions imposed against the channels’ parent company as the reason for the decision and said that newly adopted legislation allows it to enforce it.

Neither of the two channels – STS and Channel 5 – was directly subject to EU sanctions, according to a statement the regulator published on Friday. However, their parent company, the National Media Group (NMG), faced restrictions back in 2014 after Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

“Arcom has ordered Eutelsat to stop broadcasting the Russian channels STS and Kanal 5,” the regulator said in the statement, adding that Eutelsat, the local satellite operator, had three days to comply with the decision starting Wednesday, when the ruling was relayed.

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“With today’s decision, Arcom is implementing for the first time the new powers conferred on it in this area by the law of May 21, 2024 aimed at securing and regulating the digital space,” the media watchdog added.

Dubbed SREN, the legislation allows Arcom to ensure that French companies comply with EU sanctions. The regulator can now fine a company up to 3% of its annual sales excluding tax over a sanctions violation among other things. In case of a repeated breach of regulations, the threshold is raised to 5%.

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NMG was founded by Russian billionaire Aleksey Mordashov. The private media holding partly or fully owns more than a dozen Russian TV channels, including Channel One, Ren TV and others. Both STS and Channel 5 are focused on entertainment and broadcast TV series and movies. Channel 5 also has a small news block in its broadcast schedule.

According to Euractiv, Eutelsat still broadcasts some sanctioned Russian channels such as Russia 1 on more than 180 frequencies, particularly as part of a contract with the Russian company Trikolor.

The EU imposed sweeping sanctions on Russian media after the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. Outlets such as RT, Sputnik, and RIA Novosti have all been banned across the bloc, while their personnel have been targeted with sanctions. Because individual member states are tasked with forcing web providers to comply, implementation of the bans has been staggered across countries and platforms.

Moscow has slammed the sanctions against Russian media, arguing that Paris and Brussels are afraid that people would see a viewpoint that differs from the Western mainstream narrative and would start drawing their own conclusions about current events.