Twenty-nine investigations in three weeks. That is how many separate files Ofcom opened on RT’s Ukraine coverage after Russian troops crossed the border on 24 February. The regulator did not get through all of them. It did not need to. The sheer volume, combined with new Kremlin censorship laws, was enough to decide the channel’s fate.
On Friday, Ofcom revoked RT’s UK broadcasting licence. The decision, announced in London, bars the Russian state-funded channel from British airwaves for good. Even if EU sanctions that already severed RT’s satellite feed are lifted, the licence revocation means it cannot return.
The parent company, ANO TV Novosti, was ruled “not fit and proper to hold a UK broadcast licence.” That is the standard Ofcom uses for serious breaches. The regulator pointed to two things: the scale of new violations across those 29 open investigations, and RT’s reliance on Russian state money while Moscow wages war in Ukraine.
Ofcom had already fined RT £200,000 for earlier breaches of impartiality rules. The fines did not change behaviour. The statement released Friday made that plain. The watchdog said the earlier penalties had “clearly failed” to alter RT’s approach.
But the core of the ruling goes beyond accuracy complaints. It is about what is now impossible. Russia passed laws that criminalise any departure from the official narrative on the war. Reporters who describe the assault as an invasion or question Kremlin communiqués face up to 15 years in prison. Ofcom said those constraints “effectively prohibit any independent journalism.” Given that, the regulator concluded, “it appears impossible for RT to comply with the due impartiality rules of our Broadcasting Code.”
That is a blunt assessment. It means the regulator decided that the channel’s entire editorial operation is now legally incapable of meeting UK standards. Not that it failed on one programme or one story. That it cannot function within the rules at all, as long as the censorship laws stand.
The timing matters. Ofcom opened those 29 investigations after the invasion began. That is a rate of roughly one new probe every day and a half. The regulator did not wait for each one to conclude. It looked at the pattern and made a judgement about fitness to hold a licence.
RT had already been forced off British screens earlier in March, when EU sanctions cut its satellite feed. That was a practical removal. The licence revocation is a legal one. It closes the door on any future return, regardless of what happens with sanctions down the line.
The decision lands in London, but its effects reach beyond the UK. Ofcom is an independent regulator. Its ruling sets a precedent for how broadcast watchdogs in other countries might treat state-funded channels operating under Kremlin censorship laws. The logic is straightforward: if a broadcaster cannot legally produce impartial content, it cannot hold a licence that requires impartiality.
RT’s coverage of the war has been under scrutiny since the first days of the invasion. The 29 investigations covered a range of output. The regulator did not specify which programmes or segments triggered each file. It did not need to. The cumulative weight was enough.
The £200,000 fine from earlier breaches had been a warning. It was not heeded. Ofcom’s statement made clear that the regulator saw no point in continuing down the same path. Fines had not worked. The new censorship laws made compliance structurally impossible. Revocation was the remaining option.
For RT, the British licence was a foothold in a major media market. That foothold is now gone. The channel can still broadcast online, but the UK licence had given it access to satellite platforms and cable networks. Without it, those distribution channels are closed.
Ofcom’s ruling is final. There is no appeal process that would allow RT to keep broadcasting while challenging the decision. The licence is revoked. The channel is off British airwaves, and the regulator has said it cannot come back.
