London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jan 31, 2026

Back to 1938: YouTube Blocks RT DE German Broadcast Channel on Day of Its Launch

Back to 1938: YouTube Blocks RT DE German Broadcast Channel on Day of Its Launch

The Russian news outlet RT launched a 24-hour news service known as 'RT DE' in German that will broadcast live news, just as UK has its own BBC Handel, Qatar has its own Al Jazeera channel, France, Germany and The US. Germany probably didn’t like the idea that people in Germany will be exposed to another point of view, and Google censored the channel without any valid reason.
RT indeed has an agenda, just as DW, the BBC, CNN and Fox News has. But as long as the agenda is to enrich citizens with diverse point of views, to expose the other side of the true and not to promote fake facts, the human rights of every German citizen is to be able to be exposed to diversified news sources and form their own independent opinion, free from the only channels that Germany allow to brain wash their citizens.

Although the EU was never a democracy and doesn’t pretend to be a democracy, they try to develop a relatively liberal framework. So it’s disappointed that Germany is going back to its dark past of censorship and brain wash, instead of continue to move forward or at list to remain the half democracy half bureaucracy state.

We do not claim that RT should be trusted 100%, as RT, just like the BBC, NYT and DW, amplifying the news from their point of view. We do believe that in 2021 people must be exposed to many news channels and never rely on one source or one side of the news coverage spectrum.

Earlier in the day, RT launched a 24-hour news service known as 'RT DE' in German that will broadcast live news, talk shows and documentaries from the network's studios in Moscow and Berlin.

YouTube has blocked new channel RT DE on the same day when TV broadcasting was launched, RT said on Thursday.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova took a swipe at YouTube on Thursday over the blockage of the newly-launched RT DE channel in German, quipping that Moscow did not expect anything better from the online video platform.

"While I was giving an interview to RT DE, YouTube blocked their new channel. And all this on the day when broadcasting was launched.

And we did not expect anything else. As the saying goes, everyone congratulates on the premiere as best they can: somebody with flowers and good wishes, and somebody with crushed glass planted into shoes," Zakharova said in her Telegram channel.

The launch of RT DE has been surrounded by controversy in the European Union, with German media and politicians accusing the broadcaster of manipulations with facts targeting Germans of Russian origin.

In August, RT DE was officially denied a broadcasting license by Luxembourg, which cited "information and analysis by the German authorities".

In September, YouTube removed two RT DE channels without the right to recover, for alleged "violations of community rules". At the same time, RT DE was in fourth place in terms of influence among the German-language media, bypassing Deutsche Welle and other German media, according to Tubular Labs.

RT in German was launched in 2014 online and on social media.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Lifts Sanctions on British MPs and Peers After Starmer Xi Talks in Beijing
Trump Nominates Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair to Reorient U.S. Monetary Policy Toward Pro-Growth Interest Rates
AstraZeneca Announces £11bn China Investment After Scaling Back UK Expansion Plans
Starmer and Xi Forge Warming UK-China Ties in Beijing Amid Strategic Reset
Tech Market Shifts and AI Investment Surge Drive Global Innovation and Layoffs
Markets Jolt as AI Spending, US Policy Shifts, and Global Security Moves Drive New Volatility
U.S. Signals Potential Decertification of Canadian Aircraft as Bilateral Tensions Escalate
Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee Sentenced to 20 Months for Bribery
Tesla Ends Model S and X Production and Sends $2 Billion to xAI as 2025 Revenue Declines
China Executes 11 Members of the Ming Clan in Cross-Border Scam Case Linked to Myanmar’s Lawkai
Trump Administration Officials Held Talks With Group Advocating Alberta’s Independence
Starmer Signals UK Push for a More ‘Sophisticated’ Relationship With China in Talks With Xi
Shopping Chatbots Move From Advice to Checkout as Walmart Pushes Faster Than Amazon
Starmer Seeks Economic Gains From China Visit While Navigating US Diplomatic Sensitivities
Starmer Says China Visit Will Deliver Economic Benefits as He Prepares to Meet Xi Jinping
UK Prime Minister Starmer Arrives in China to Bolster Trade and Warn Firms of Strategic Opportunities
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
Amazon to Cut 16,000 Corporate Jobs After Earlier 14,000 Reduction, Citing Streamlining and AI Investment
Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Powell Faces DOJ Criminal Investigation During 2026 Decision
Putin’s Four-Year Ukraine Invasion Cost: Russia’s Mass Casualty Attrition and the Donbas Security-Guarantee Tradeoff
Wall Street Bets on Strong US Growth and Currency Moves as Dollar Slips After Trump Comments
UK Prime Minister Traveled to China Using Temporary Phones and Laptops to Limit Espionage Risks
Google’s $68 Million Voice Assistant Settlement Exposes Incentives That Reward Over-Collection
Kim Kardashian Admits Faking Paparazzi Visit to Britney Spears for Fame in Early 2000s
UPS to Cut 30,000 More Jobs by 2026 Amid Shift to High-Margin Deliveries
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
Hot Drinks, Hidden Particles: How Disposable Cups Quietly Increase Microplastic Exposure
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and the Non-Consensual Public Recording Economy
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
×