Redfish Media, a digital media outlet that is owned by a subsidiary of Russia Today, has been in the news over an upcoming documentary it did on Jammu and Kashmir.
Redfish Media had shared a trailer for the documentary, titled Kashmir: Palestine in the Making, last week. Predictably, the trailer was greeted with outrage. There was also speculation about tension in India-Russia ties as Redfish has been considered a propaganda platform for Russia by the West.
On Tuesday, Redfish, which has its offices in Germany, announced it had decided to remove the trailer and postpone the release of the documentary. Redfish said the decision was based on security concerns about its journalists and contributors.
In a statement, Redfish claimed the blow-back against the trailer had led to “calls for the filmmakers to be punished on YouTube, death threats across social media, and some journalists being forced to leave their cities.”
Redfish argued the controversy about the documentary was a result of the fact that major social media outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook, had labelled it as 'state-affiliated media'. “redfish, our small Berlin based media company, was one of the first victims of this misinformation which is designed to turn audiences away from media which disrupt the mainstream’s grip on global public opinion. In the immediate term, the effect was that our Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter accounts were shadow-banned, which is an explicit consequence of the labelling,” the outlet claimed.
Redfish stated “in the past week we have witnessed how these defamatory labels can have dangerously stark consequences, and today we are forced to take the terrible decision to suspend our publication of a documentary we produced from Kashmir.”
Redfish stated the “angle” of its documentary had previously been reported on by The Washington Post (owned by Jeff Bezos) and Al Jazeera (gets partial funding from Qatari government). Redfish argued, “If Silicon Valley would ever dare to apply these labels fairly, next time Al Jazeera reports on Kashmir, it could be seized upon as a sign that Qatar and India’s strong ties are in danger.”
Redfish said, “our documentary went from being a passionate effort to break journalistic ground, to an example of how Silicon Valley’s false labelling of media has so much power over public opinion that at it’s worst, results in the above mentioned intimidation and threats of violence and death”.
It noted that Twitter, Facebook and Google were being hypocritical and opaque in applying the 'state-affiliated' label. “But this is the first time the dangers it poses to press freedom has been so starkly laid bare,” Redfish said.
Russian response
On Monday, the Russian Embassy in Delhi had claimed the the 'state-affiliated media' label was “misleading” as it did not mean Redfish had any state support. “The channel functions independently with regard to its editorial policy. However, it is hoped that the complexity and historical background of this and other regional issues will be given due understanding and balanced approach, which is expected from any professional media,” the embassy said.
The embassy reiterated that “The Russian official position on the issue of Kashmir and Russia's principled stance on non-interference in bilateral disputes remain unchanged.”
