Case Law, EU: RT France v. Council: General Court finds ban on Russia Today not a violation of right to freedom of expression

On 27 July 2022, in RT France v. Council, the General Court of the European Union found that the ban on RT France in the EU did not violate the right to freedom of expression and media freedom, under Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Notably, the General Court sought to apply principles from case law of the European Court of Human Rights and international human rights law.

However, there are serious questions to be raised over the General Court’s reasoning in RT France, and the judgment arguably represents a deeply-problematic application of European and international free expression principles.