US Department of State announced on September 13, 2024:  Alerting the World to RT's Global Covert Activities

"Today, the United States is designating three entities and two individuals for their connection to Russia's destabilizing actions abroad. According to new information, much of which originates from employees of Russian state-funded RT (formerly "Russia Today"), we now know that RT moved beyond being simply a media outlet and has been an entity with cyber capabilities. It is also engaged in information operations, covert influence, and military procurement. These operations are targeting countries around the world, including in Europe, Africa, and North and South America. The United States supports the free flow of information.  We are not taking action against these entities and individuals for the content of their reporting, or even the disinformation they create and spread publicly. We are taking action against them for their covert influence activities. Convert influence activities are not journalism. The United States will always stand for freedom of expression, including for those with whom we disagree. We encourage dissent, open debate, and free discourse. But we will not stand for attempts by state actors to carry out covert activities with the goal of hijacking that discourse."


Even if RT is hacking people's computers with one hand and publishing news with the other, the news they publish is still speech/discourse.

Do you think they will ever explain what they mean by "covert influence activites"?  How can something influence me if it isn't speech/discourse, which we all agree must be free?

And if the covert nature is the problem, then tell us what the f*** you mean! 

 these codewords look like spycraft.  The KGB spent 80% of its budget on desinformation in USSR times. Planting news on other supposedly neutral news outlets or influencing  movements or lobby groups via bought or compromised pp may be the meaning of 'info operation' and 'covert influence'. These would be daily routine on the old KGB playbook. 'Military procurement' looks like looking for supplies banned under sanctions. 

If USSR times teach us something, anything state-owned by Russia is suspect. If some of it is true, it may be really hard to separate RT-news from RT-spy. 

But, who knows? Given the current political situation... who do we really trust?