When enquired, senior officials from the Information and Broadcasting ministry confirmed that they had not initiated any action against RT.
The Ministry of External Affairs has also not issued any such directive to ban broadcast of Russia Today in India unlike other countries, and expressed surprise at the development that hampers freedom of speech and expression, ET has learnt.
Allegations of external influence on any of the Indian companies to toe a certain line will be monitored, according to sources
The channel was given a downlinking licence in 2008, and it has been running uninterrupted since then.
The message on the TV screen of the DTH players read, “This channel is temporarily unavailable from the broadcaster due to a technical failure. Service will resume shortly.”
A Tata Play spokesperson said that the platform does carry the channels, but since Friday there has been a black screen from source.
“We have not received any communication from RT’s side,” the spokesperson said.
The network, often described by one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main mouthpieces in the US, was dropped earlier this week by DirecTV, a major US TV provider, and is facing major curbs in other countries too.
Several tech companies around the world have de-platformed it, responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The European Union (EU) has also announced sanctions against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including banning Russia state media broadcasting comprising RT, Sputnik and its subsidiaries.
Alphabet Inc’s Google on Saturday banned RT and other channels from receiving money for ads on their websites, apps and YouTube videos.
India, meanwhile, has abstained from recent UN Security Council and General Assembly votes on the Russia-Ukraine situation, arguing that sanctions are not a solution, and that the two warring sides should go back to the talking table.
RT recently disappeared from all broadcast platforms in the UK. UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries recently described the channel as “Putin’s polluting propaganda machine.”
Social media giants Twitter and Facebook parent Meta have also clamped down on RT accusing them of pushing misinformation about the invasion of Ukraine.
While Meta has said it would be restricting access in the European Union to RT and Sputnik, Twitter said it would put warnings on tweets sharing links of Russia Today. RT is already banned in many countries, including the ex-Soviet states of Lithuania and Latvia.
