• Destabilizing Pakistan: Bookending Washington's China policy
• Pakistan-India showdown: What you're not being told
• The economic entrails at the heart of the 'deal of the century'

• Destabilizing Pakistan: Bookending Washington's China policy
• Pepe Escobar: US and Iran stuck on negotiation Ground Zero
• The economic entrails at the heart of the 'deal of the century'
• Pepe Escobar: The Pentagon's obsession with China, and Putin's strategy

British broadcast regulator Ofcom imposed a large fine on RT over an alleged breach of impartiality rules. Reporting on this story by the UK's majors met a cold reaction online, with users accusing the British media of bias.

The move to impose the £200,000 fine on RT was announced by the British media watchdog on Friday, a decision based on an Ofcom report issued last December accusing RT of seven instances of breaching British impartiality rules while reporting on highly controversial stories in 2018, such as the Skripal poisoning affair.

RT has filed a legal challenge against the accusations and last month London's High Court allowed the case to proceed, despite Ofcom claiming that RT's case had no merit.

As the British media reported on the impressive fine, it was met by an angry online crowd, wondering when the watchdog would actually look into the country's own media - and bleed it dry financially over its alleged bias.

Others suggested Ofcom might have an unconventional understanding of what 'impartiality' actually means.

And some even pointed fingers at the not-very-subtle ties between the UK's media and the country's state authorities.

Still, a few users managed to dismiss the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the news about RT's fine, blaming it on the Twitter bogey of choice - the elusive Russian bots.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned a heavy fine issued by the British media regulator Ofcom against RT. The move was part of "anti-Russian campaign" launched in the UK, the ministry said.

"We witness a situation, in which the British authorities seek to restrict the activities of the Russian media in the UK, this time suing financial leverage," the ministry said in a statement, after Ofcom announced that it issued a £200,000 ($ 247.750) penalty to RT over its alleged breach of impartiality rules.

The ministry questioned the large penalty imposed on RT, stating that it "by far exceeds" the fines other media outlets have received, even in cases involving hate speech and incitement to violence. It also noted that the fine was issued ahead of a court case that is set to rule on the very legitimacy of the media watchdog's conclusions.

"We regard Ofcom's decision as an act of outright censure."

The statement also said that the British press has repeatedly involved itself in controversies and misrepresented facts in its own reporting. Most recently, when Italian police busted a neo-Nazi gang they claimed took part in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, the whole range of British media - including Reuters and the BBC - rushed to report on the gang's alleged links to "pro-Russian separatists," even though Italian authorities never actually mentioned one.

"We closely follow the developments," the ministry said, adding that the British media operating in Russia should be ready to "face consequences of London's actions."

• The Guardian's collusion with Britain's Secret Service
• "The editorial board wants blood": Leaked messages show BBC wants to 'prove' Russia linked to Yellow Vest protests
• France under Macron: RT reporter barred from media event for the second time this week (2018)
• The Nation editor: 'Registering RT as foreign agent is threat to press freedom' (2017)

• Mueller hearing was a 'very big mistake' for anti-Trump #Resistance, but will they soldier on?
• The Mueller circus begins: 'Insufficient evidence' Trump conspired with Russians, a "disaster" for Democrats and any impeachment attempts
• Questions for Mueller that would show why Russiagate was never the answer

• Ukrainian soldiers kill their commander after being forced to commit war-crimes
• 'Mini-Guantanamo': Secret prison operating in Ukraine torturing Donbass citizens
• A quarter of Ukrainian troops under criminal investigation since April 2014 - more than 27,000 criminals cases opened
• UN slams Ukraine for systemic torture, intimidation, rampant human rights abuses

• The Guardian: A modern embodiment of Orwellian 'newspeak'
• The Guardian: Purveyor of extraordinary and deliberate lies
• Luke Harding: The Latest Media Shill Trying to Prove Russian Collusion Where There Is None
• Actual Fake News: The Guardian/Politico Psy-op Against Wikileaks
• After years as The Guardian's 'MI6 tool' Luke Harding may finally have gone too far

• Lavrov: Charges against alleged spy Maria Butina were fabricated, release her
• Russian Foreign Ministry slams 'politically motivated' Butina verdict as a 'shameful stain' on US justice
• US court documents in 'foreign agent' Butina case suggest deal made - UPDATE - Putin says she was jailed for nothing, has no ties to Russian intel
• Lawyer for Maria Butina reminds the world that client isn't charged with spying
• The endgame in Maria Butina's cruel ordeal