Is Latvia's initiative to counter Kremlin propaganda naive?

TV channels in Latvia will in future have to show 80 percent of their programmes in the official languages of the EU, while a maximum of 20 percent can be broadcast in Russian. In addition Russian-language channels are to be placed at the end of the menu from now on. With this move the parliament in Riga hopes to curb Russian propaganda. However, observers doubt that the amendment will do much good.

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Neatkarīgā (LV) /

This won't stop the brainwashing

The law is useless, Neatkarīgā believes:

“It all sounds very well until you realise that Russia Today, the Kremlin's English-language mouthpiece, will continue to lie away in English. And no law can stop it from doing so. Not only does the law come too late, it also hasn't been properly thought through. The Kremlin will continue to be unafraid of us, and its flood of propaganda won't be affected. On the contrary - it will become more and more talented in this area. Given how weak our counter-propaganda is, one can assume that this law will destroy our fight against misinformation and brainwashing.”

Satori (LV) /

Trump and Beijing just as prolific as the Kremlin

False information does not just come from Russia, Satori stresses:

“Our politicians shouldn't just naively believe that the Kremlin alone carries out disinformation. If you follow the media closely, you can't help noticing that there is sometimes even more dangerous nonsense than that put out by the Kremlin: namely the views spread by Trump, by China's propagandists and other politicians. But many politicians shy away from calling a spade a spade when it comes to disinformation. Because the Kremlin is an easy target in that regard.”