EU pledges to fight Russia's 'information war' in Europe

Brussels: European Union officials on Tuesday defended the 27-nation bloc's decision to ban Russian state-controlled media outlets from broadcasting in the region as decisive steps to check a Kremlin-led information war."

Speaking at the European Parliament during a debate on foreign interference and disinformation, the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell brushed off critics who say the EU is threatening freedom of information with the ban on Sputnik and RT/Russia Today.

They are not independent media, they are assets, they are weapons, in the Kremlin's manipulation ecosystem," Borrell told lawmakers.

We are not trying to decide what is true and what is false. We don't have ministers of the Truth. But we have to focus on foreign actors who intentionally, in a coordinated manner, try to manipulate our information environment."

The EU has decided to suspend the broadcasting activities of Sputnik and RT/Russia Today in the bloc until Russia ends its war in Ukraine and stop disinformation campaigns in member states.

Borrell said Moscow-controlled outlets are part of a well-oiled propaganda machine providing biased news about Vladimir Putin's true intentions.

If the information is bad, democracy is bad," he said, adding that information should be a protected good.

If the information is systematically contaminated by lies and twisted, citizens can't have a clear understanding of reality and their political judgment is similarly twisted."

Borrell insisted that Sputnik was created by a presidential decree with the aim of reporting on Russia's sate policies abroad, and said that Russia Today is capable of conducting an information war" against the western world.