Sanctions announced on Friday are an effort to undercut RT by making it difficult for the network to conduct global business in dollars.
The United States, Canada and Britain on Friday accused Russia’s global television network, RT, of acting as an arm of that country’s intelligence agencies, announcing new sanctions meant to cut off international financing for disinformation operations around the world.
The action came days after the Justice Department indicted two employees of the network for funneling at least $9.7 million to bankroll American podcasters on Tenet Media, a video-streaming site in Tennessee, in hopes of pushing the Kremlin’s propaganda and undermining the American democratic political process.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, appearing at the State Department, said that RT no longer acted simply as a state-owned news organization. Instead, it now actively carries out covert operations not only in the United States, but also in several other countries at the direction of intelligence officials reporting directly to the Kremlin.
“Today, we’re exposing how Russia deploys similar tactics around the world,” Mr. Blinken said. “Russian weaponization of disinformation to subvert and polarize free and open societies extends to every part of the world.”
“We urge every ally, every partner, to start by treating RT’s activities as they do other intelligence activities by Russia within their borders,” he added.
Those operations have included disinformation campaigns, like the one using Tenet Media, but also cyberespionage, fund-raising for Russia’s war in Ukraine and the laundering of funds to covertly purchase light matériel, including sniper rifles, drones and night-vision goggles from China and other countries.