Speech Freedom Must Be Protected At Int'l Level - Russian Lawmaker On RT-Linked Accounts

Daniyal Sohail Published February 18, 2019 | 06:57 PM

It is necessary to protect the right to freedom of speech and information at the international level and to promote this issue to the international agenda, Oleg Morozov, a member of the Russian upper house's International Affairs Committee, told Sputnik, commenting on Facebook's suspension of RT-linked accounts

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2019) It is necessary to protect the right to freedom of speech and information at the international level and to promote this issue to the international agenda, Oleg Morozov, a member of the Russian upper house's International Affairs Committee, told Sputnik, commenting on Facebook's suspension of RT-linked accounts.

On Friday, Facebook suspended pages of projects run by Maffick Media, an independent journalistic group that is partly owned by the Ruptly video agency, which is a subsidiary of RT. Facebook did not give Maffick Media any prior warning. According to Maffick's statement, the social network was "pressured" into doing this by CNN, which ran a story on Maffick Media and its perceived ties to the Kremlin.

"We must do everything provided by the modern international law and international conventions protecting the right of a citizen to freedom of information and freedom of speech," Morozov said adding that this issue must be promoted to the international agenda.

CNN admitted it had been tipped off about Maffick Media's funding by the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), an advocacy group that is part of the German Marshall Fund (GMF) policy research center. The fund, considered an "undesirable organization" under the Russian law, receives some of its funding from the US and German governments, NATO and other organizations. According to CNN, the ASD does not receive financing from the GMF and is supported through private funds and grants, rather than by governments.

Video materials about history, news, social issues and environment were published on the removed pages.