The United Kingdom is concerned that Russian news agencies, Sputnik and RT, are overtaking Western media companies in coverage, UK-based non-profit Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) said.
"Today, RT and Sputnik are broadcast all over the world ... The global spread of international operations by Russian [media] is perhaps greater than that of Western ones," the AIB's document published on the British Parliament's website read.
Sputnik and RT continue to have an impact, despite being banned in the West following the launch of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
The main purpose of the AIB’s document appears to be securing more British government funding for the BBC.
In March 2022, the European Union banned the Russian TV channel RT and the Sputnik agency from broadcasting, alleging the media of "playing an important role in promoting and supporting military aggression against Ukraine, as well as in destabilizing its neighboring countries."
This EU's decision has shrunk the space for media objectivity, Dr Is'haq Modibbo Kawu, a renowned Nigerian broadcaster, political scientist, and former Director General of Nigeria's National Broadcasting Commission, told Sputnik Africa.