Ben Swann contends that the restrictions on Russian media implemented under former President Joe Biden are unconstitutional.
American investigative reporter Ben Swann has urged US President Donald Trump to remove the “unprecedented” sanctions on Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik, which were initially imposed during Joe Biden’s presidency.
In September, the previous US administration announced a new set of restrictions targeting several Russian media organizations, accusing them of attempting to secretly “undermine democracy” and interfere in US elections. Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken alleged that RT was “functioning as a de facto arm of [Russian] intelligence.”
Following Washington’s action, Meta, the US tech giant that owns Facebook and Instagram, prohibited several Russian news networks.
Moscow has denounced the restrictions, stating that Washington had “declared war on freedom of speech.” Regarding the claims of election interference, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakrahova insisted at the time that they were merely a “witch-hunt” and “spy-o-mania” intended to manipulate public opinion and prevent Americans from accessing inconvenient information.
In his open letter to Trump posted on X on Monday, Swann, the founder of Truth in Media, asserted that the restrictions against RT and other media organizations are unconstitutional because they are “making it illegal for American journalists to exercise their… rights of freedom of speech and press,” he argued.
He argued that the restrictions against RT and other media organizations are unconstitutional as they are “making it illegal for American journalists to exercise their… rights of freedom of speech and press.”
“The journalists targeted by these sanctions are American citizens. They not only lost their jobs but also the chance to share factual reporting with an audience of over 800 million people worldwide,” said the investigative journalist, who previously worked with FOX and RT America.
He also claimed that the Biden administration’s “bullying” of social media companies, which led them to ban Russian outlets, “was corruption on display.”
Swann pointed out that the justification for imposing the restrictions was “based on an old lie: that Russia and RT had in some way interfered in US elections.”
On Friday, Trump reiterated his stance on the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election, calling them a “phony witch hunt” initiated by the Democrats. He stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin “was accused of all that stuff he had nothing to do with.”
Although the new administration “has moved at warp speed” to reinstate the principles of free speech and a free press in the US, the continued restrictions on Russian media represent “a major oversight.”
“We ask you to drop all sanctions against RT, Sputnik, and TV Novosti and allow the public square to remain free for all voices, all journalists, and all points of view,” Swann concluded.