Russia Today websites defying EU bans: “it’s a hydra’s head situation”

ISD Analyst Kata Balint and Senior Digital Research Manager Jordan Wildon, spoke to POLITICO about their latest look into the techniques and strategies Russia Today is using to circumvent EU content bans and reach European audiences.

“The most likely thing is that this is a very intentional way of trying to get around the fact that they’ve been restricted,” said Jordan told Politico. “It’s a hydra’s head situation. You get rid of one thing, and they’ll try and find some way of doing something else”.

Their research showed the multitude of websites, including variations of RT domain names, mirror websites, copy-paste websites and aggregate websites, that allow RT content to be easily accessed in a number of different languages. In addition, they uncovered a social media strategy that reached tens of millions of users and directed them to these sites.

“The main amplifiers of the links were actually RT accounts, both on Facebook and on Twitter,” Kata said.