The US should stop Putin's propaganda machine by banning RT: columnist

Republican strategist and Bulwark author Tim Miller went after Russian state media channel RT Tuesday, as President Vladimir Putin's propaganda persisted to permeate through their airwaves and website.

Putin, no stranger to informational warfare, is using his control of the media to release unfounded stories in an effort to bring down Ukraine on the world stage, as The Economist reported. Not only is it not working, but before any of them can garner much traction, legitimate media outlets are debunking the Putin-funded claims and videos, prompting social media users to mock the 5-foot 7-inch world leader. Twitter decided to post a disclaimer on information coming out of Russia indicating it was state-sponsored content. Facebook has removed some accounts.

"The events of the past week should make plain to the American corporations and useful idiot chuckleheads who have been propping up RT America and other Russian state television that it’s time to cut the cord once and for all," Miller wrote.

RT has long drawn questions from the international community for being used as an English-speaking disinformation machine, propped up by $200 million investments from Russia, according to a U.S. intelligence agency report. Meanwhile, the network attracts people like comedian Dennis Miller with the promise of cash.

READ: Putin will escalate to 'scorched earth' campaign in the next 48-hours: expert

"Staring back at his own visage on the small screen proved too alluring," the Bulwark writer assessed. "While Miller proved to be a disappointment, pre-Ukraine invasion we shouldn't have been surprised that a boozy actor in twilight or a roided-out sidekick to Gorilla Monsoon would take work as Putin’s court jester, given their limitations. Work is work."

But as the international community rallies around Ukraine to place a check on an authoritarian Russian leader, Tim Miller wants to know why corporations continue to prop up the RT network.

He cited Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) who tried to get "Congress to pass legislation that relieved cable operators of any obligation to lease space for programming owned, controlled, or financed by the Russian government." Yet, still, the outlet remains.

Thus far, digital sites have blocked Russian state media from their platforms, but Miller called on the television industry to do the same.

Miller explained that typically a channel will pay to be on a provider like DirectTV, Dish, etc. They then have deals with Sling and Roku, where they're one channel away from Steve Bannon's outlet. RT appears on hotel televisions, in airports, and even in taxi cabs.

"And while the McCain legislative language has caused the network to founder among traditional cable providers, RT does tout that American viewers can find them on the Buckeye cable system in Toledo and on Spring City Cable outside Chattanooga," he continued. "(This could be important information for comrades Carlson and D’Souza, should they decide to decamp to Real ’Murica in order to further foment the Russophile resistance.)"

He closed by not only calling on the country to rethink its RT investment but to call out those who continue to prop up Putin's international propaganda arm.

"As for those who don’t have the gumption for that, who are still helping Putin spread his poison: DirecTV, Dish, Sling, Roku, the Hartford Sheraton, the South Beach Hotel chain, YouTube, Dennis Miller, Rick Sanchez, Jesse Ventura, William Shatner, the guy controlling the remote at the Minneapolis Airport Bar, and the rest . . . they should be shunned, denounced, and be forced to experience the consequences of their choices."

Read Miller's full piece at The Bulwark.