Shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin made broadcasting “fake news” a crime in his country, the world fake news leader – CNN – announced they were packing up shop and leaving the country.
“CNN will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps moving forward,” a CNN spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Vyacheslav Volodin, who serves as speaker for the lower house of Russian parliament, said that Putin’s reform “will force those who lied and made statements discrediting our armed forces to bear very grave punishment.”
“I want everyone to understand, and for society to understand, that we are doing this to protect our soldiers and officers, and to protect the truth,” he stated.
The law will impose prison sentences of up to three years and fine individuals who spread false and defamatory statements about the military. For cases that are deemed to lead to “severe consequences” to the Russian military efforts, there could be up to 15 years in prison for offenders.
The usual actors are claiming that this is a blatant crackdown by Putin on the free press, and while they certainly have a point, there is no doubt that Western media outlets, such as CNN, have propagandized the masses shamelessly and mercilessly about the nature of the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
Big League Politics has reported on the information war conducted on the West against freedom of speech and expression:
“Russia Today (RT), a Kremlin-funded news network, has been banned from spreading its message on Telegram, the popular and growing encrypted messaging application that is ostensibly meant to protect freedom of speech. Telegram caved after receiving pressure from the European Union to censor their content, which the globalist body claims is a haven for conspiracy theories undermining Ukrainian support in their current conflict with Russia.
“The rules are clear. There cannot be any circumvention,” said Věra Jourová, the European Commission’s vice president for values and transparency, to POLITICO.
“All actors should take their responsibilities. First, because it is the law in the EU. Second, everyone has understood what is at stake by now,” Jourová added, making the case for ubiquitous censorship of all non-globalist operations.
“We will not rest until everyone – including messenger services — take their responsibility in countering the Kremlin’s war propaganda,” Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal markets Commissioner, said in a statement of demands sent to Telegram.
While Telegram embraces censorship, an alt tech video platform – Rumble – is continuing to stream RT as they demonstrate their stalwart commitment to freedom of speech.”
Putin’s decision to expel CNN and other fake news sources is certainly controversial, but may ultimately be effective. The fake news, after all, is the enemy of mankind.
By Shane Trejo