RT editor-in-chief’s X account blocked in France

Margarita Simonyan says she has “no idea” why the restriction was imposed

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan’s X account has been blocked in France, as Western countries continue to crack down on Russian media.

According to X, the account was withheld in response to an unspecified legal demand. It remains unclear when access was restricted.

“My X account has been blocked in France. I have no idea what I did to offend [French President Emmanuel] Macron – I haven’t even been saying that his wife is a man,” Simonyan wrote on Telegram on Monday, referring to claims that France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron is secretly a man.

Macron has long accused RT of spreading falsehoods without providing evidence, first making the allegation during his 2017 election campaign.

The EU and UK have banned RT and several other Russian media outlets since 2022, accusing the channel of spreading propaganda during the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has responded by banning a number of Western state-funded networks, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the crackdown on Russian media in the West as “global censorship and a regime of zero tolerance for dissenting opinions.”

READ MORE: US research highlights RT’s role in media landscape

Earlier this year, prosecutors in Paris launched an investigation into X on suspicion that Elon Musk’s platform was being used to meddle in French politics. The company denounced the probe as politically motivated and accused France of attempting to restrict free speech.