Collateral Freedom: RSF unblocks access to several European media censored in Russia
One month after the Russian foreign ministry declared that it was censoring 81 European media outlets on its soil, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announces that it has circumvented the ban and restored access to several of the online news sites thanks to its Collateral Freedom operation.
Update on 10 September 2024: In early September, Collateral Freedom unblocked a major news site in Slovakia, Sme.sk.
RSF has lifted Russian restrictions on access to the websites of several European news outlets, including the Franco-German public service channel Arte, the Latvian public media group Latvijas sabiedriskais medijs and the Slovak newspaper Dennik N, as part of its Collateral Freedom project.
Other media based in the European Union (EU) and targeted by the Kremlin's new arbitrary restrictions — which were announced on 25 June — will also be made accessible in Russia thanks to Collateral Freedom. The operation consists of creating mirror sites for blocked media, creating copies of the censored websites that are updated in real time and whose addresses cannot be blocked.
"We are proud to enable independent media to bypass the Kremlin's censorship and thus offer the public in Russia access to reliable domestic and international news. The Collateral Freedom operation, which is open to all trustworthy media, defends the journalism challenged by Russia’s propaganda machine.
“In a world where attacks on the media and disinformation have become increasingly powerful and widespread weapons in the authoritarian war on democracy, it has never been more important to fight against this repression against any voice critical of power by finding the means to enable independent media like Arte to remain accessible in spite of everything.
RSF also brought its own website back online, which was sanctioned by the Kremin, presumably due to the launch of RSF’s Svoboda satellite bouquet, which broadcasts censored Russian-language channels from all over the world. The RSF website had already been blocked in Russia two months before the announcement on 25 June; some EU-based media sites were censored as early as 2022, while others are still not censored despite the announcement.
The Russian authorities justify this censorship by invoking “counter-restrictions on access,” calling the move a “response” to the EU sanctions on 17 May against three “Russian media (RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta).” The reciprocity argument, however, is based on a lie: the three entities sanctioned by the EU are not independent media, but malicious propaganda organs of a closed state taking advantage of the open nature of democracies.
Operation Collateral Freedom makes it possible to circumvent online censorship not only in Russia, but also in Belarus, China, Iran and other nations, and ensures access to over one hundred media outlets.
