The Latvian National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP) has banned 80 Russian TV channels that were still available in the country, Delfi reports.
NEPLP Chairman Ivars Abolins says the move was made in connection with Latvia’s new legislation. Under Latvian law, TV programs registered in a country that threatens the independence and territorial integrity of another state are currently banned from airing in Latvia.
The TV channels E TV, Illuzion+, Kino24, Mir TV, Hunting and Fishing, Peretz, and Russian Illuzion have been banned, among others. Broadcasts of the Russian TV channels will be suspended on June 9. The ban will remain in effect until Russia stops the war and returns Crimea to Ukraine.
Simultaneously with the ban on the Russian TV channels, the TV channel Dozhd was granted a broadcasting license in Latvia. In Russia, it was forced to close due to the law on “fakes” about the war. The Russian Ministry of Justice also pronounced Dozhd a foreign agent.