Paris, November 13, 2024

• The French satellite operator Eutelsat Group is still not applying the European sanctions against various Russian media companies sanctioned by the European Union since December 2022. Despite the sanctions, the French satellite operator continues in particular to transmit to Russia and the annexed territories of Ukraine, the Zvezda channel of the Russian Armed Forces and the Spas channel of the Russian Orthodox Church.

• European sanctions are immediately applicable and do not require a text from national authorities. Eutelsat Group argues that these European sanctions are unclear and that it is Arcom's responsibility to issue instructions. Since the enactment of the SREN law on May 21, 2024, Arcom's mission has been to ensure that French satellite operators comply with European sanctions. Six months after the law's enactment, it is high time that the Authority formally notified the operator to fulfill its obligations.

• In its Universal Registration Document published on October 17, 2024, Eutelsat Group does not mention sanctions against Russian companies as a risk factor, even though their implementation would affect 187 frequencies on the four satellites of its "Russian segment".

• While the channel packages of its two Russian clients, NTV Plus and Trikolor, have been distributed in the annexed territories of Ukraine since 2014, Eutelsat Group is not complying with Ukrainian sanctions. The NTV PLUS package and 16 channels broadcast on the Eutelsat 36D satellite are sanctioned by the Ukrainian authorities.

• Eutelsat continues to broadcast the Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen TV, which supports the terrorist organizations of the Iranian “axis of resistance” (Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad) and the Russian aggression in Ukraine

Since March 2022, the Denis Diderot Committee and its partners have been campaigning against the transmission by European telecommunications companies of Russian propaganda channels and audiovisual services from Russian media companies sanctioned by the European Union. Many European internet companies (most internet service providers, Google, and some hosting providers) still do not comply with the sanctions. Various European satellite operators continue to broadcast the services of sanctioned Russian media companies.

Among these operators, Eutelsat Group occupies a unique position. The world's second-largest satellite communications operator, Eutelsat Group is a French company, with the French State (through BPI) and the British Government among its main investors. The company operates under the regulatory oversight of Arcom and the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industry. A former French Minister of Defense, Florence Parly, and a former Minister of Culture and Communication, Fleur Pellerin, serve on its Board of Directors.

Despite the war, Eutelsat did not question its partnerships with Russia.

The Russian state still holds a stake in the operating subsidiary Eutelsat SA. Eutelsat Group's two main clients in Russia are the pay-TV platforms NTV Plus and Trikolor, two companies closely linked to the Kremlin regime, which market their services in Russia and, since 2014, also in the annexed territories of Ukraine. Eutelsat Group therefore de facto accepts the annexation of these territories, which is contrary to international law.

Eutelsat Group makes available to NTV Plus and Trikolor the capacity of its new Eutelsat 36D satellite, launched on March 30, 2024 and maintains its partnership with the state satellite operator RSCC, whose capacity it manages most of on three satellites (Ekpress AT 1, Ekspress AT2 and Ekspress AMU 1/Eutelsat 36C).

Eutelsat Group is not complying with European sanctions against Russian media companies

The Diderot Committee notes that Eutelsat Group duly implemented, in 2022, the sanctions against the channels sanctioned by Arcom and the European Union (Russia Today, RTR Planeta, Rossiya 24, Pervyi Kanal, Rossiya 1, NTV, REN-TV). This entailed renegotiating contracts with Russian partners and resulting in a loss of revenue amounting to several million euros.

However, Eutelsat did not implement the sanctions against companies sanctioned by the European Union: the VGTRK and National Media Group groups, as well as the Russian Armed Forces broadcasting company Zvezda and Spas Telekanal, the broadcasting company of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The sanctions against these media companies were imposed by the European Union on December 16, 2022, pursuant to Regulation 269/2014. This regulation establishes the freezing of assets and the freezing of economic resources of the sanctioned companies. As the European Commission clarified on May 14, 2024, " The prohibition on making economic resources available includes the prohibition on providing internet services, satellite capacity, content hosting services, or any other means that could be used to obtain funds by the listed entities ."

According to records compiled by the Diderot Committee, based on information provided by Lyngsat.com as of November 4, 2024, Eutelsat continues to allocate 187 frequencies across its four satellites to the Russian market, serving 34 TV channels and 5 radio stations belonging to companies sanctioned by the European Union. This includes frequencies allocated to the two TV channels and one radio station of Zvezda, a subsidiary of the Russian Armed Forces, and to Spas Telekanal, a channel operated by the Russian Orthodox Church's broadcasting company.

The 2023-2024 Universal Registration Document, published for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for November 21, makes no mention of these sanctions or the financial risk their application would entail. For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, Russia still represented 6% of Eutelsat Group's revenue, or approximately €72.5 million.

Arcom must formally demand that the operator comply with European sanctions

Eutelsat's main argument for not implementing European sanctions is that they are not clear and that it is up to Arcom to specify which channels are concerned.

The argument that the sanctions are imprecise is quite weak. The list of channels published by the sanctioned companies is perfectly clear: one only needs to refer to the websites of these companies, which are still accessible, to know which channels they publish.

The excuse of a lack of instructions from Arcom is also a very weak argument. As the operator acknowledges, European sanctions are immediately applicable and do not require implementing legislation from national authorities. In December 2022, the operator correctly applied the sanctions against the Iranian state-owned company IRIB, which were of the same legal nature, without the French authorities having to produce implementing legislation. Furthermore, Arcom, in its Decision of December 20, 2023, ordering Eutelsat SA to cease broadcasting two Hamas channels, reiterated that " Generally speaking, it is the responsibility of any satellite network operator under French jurisdiction to ensure that the application of broadcasting contracts is strictly contingent upon the carried television services complying with the rules and principles set forth in legislation, such as the prohibition in programs of any incitement to hatred or violence based on race, religion, or nationality ."

Since the French operator is slow to implement the sanctions, the French authorities have a duty of care. The new paragraph 2 of Article 42 of the Law of September 30, 1986, on freedom of communication, introduced by Article 14 of the SREN Law promulgated on May 21, 2024, mandates Arcom to enforce European sanctions against French satellite operators. Nearly six months after the law's promulgation, Arcom has still not fulfilled its role.

Eutelsat Group is not complying with Ukrainian sanctions

The Order of 18 January 2020 from the Ministry of the Economy authorizes Eutelsat SA to operate frequency assignments for a satellite system at the 36° East orbital position. This authorization "does not prejudge the authorizations required to operate the system in the territories covered by the service area."

Eutelsat is very good at respecting Russian authorizations, or rather prohibitions: since March 2022, Western news channels and Russian opposition channels are no longer offered by the two Russian customers, NTV Plus and Trikolor, on the Eutelsat 36D and Eutelsat 36C/Ekpress AMU 1 satellites.

However, Eutelsat does not respect Ukrainian sanctions. As recognized in December 2022 by the State Council and Arcom, the two Russian bouquets used by Eutelsat Group customers, NTV Plus and Trikolor in position 36° East, have been officially distributed in the occupied and annexed territories of Ukraine, particularly in Crimea, since 2014.

Under international law, occupied and annexed territories remain part of Ukraine. The operator must therefore comply with the sanctions imposed by the Ukrainian authorities. NTV Plus is among the sanctioned companies, along with 26 channels broadcasting from the 36° East position, including 16 on the new Eutelsat 36D satellite and 11 on the Ekspress AMU1/Eutelsat 36C satellite.

Eutelsat continues to broadcast the Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen TV, which supports Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, Assad and Putin, as well as the anti-Semitic channels of the Houthi regime in Yemen.

Another troubling practice of Eutelsat Group is making frequencies available to various Middle Eastern channels that promote Islamist and anti-Semitic terrorism.

Eutelsat Group broadcasts the Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen TV on three satellites to Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Al Mayadeen TV supports the terrorist forces of the "axis of resistance" as defined by Iran (Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthi regime in Yemen) and broadcasts clearly antisemitic content, including celebrating the October 7, 2023 attack against Israeli civilians. This channel was broadcast illegally from Italy without the license required by Italian law and without intervention from the Italian regulatory authority, AGCOM. AGCOM only intervened after the Diderot Committee issued a warning in November 2023. Since May 2024, the channel has no longer been broadcast from Italy, but the operator refuses to publicly disclose the country from which the uplink originates—information essential for determining which European state has jurisdiction over the channel.

Similarly, Eutelsat also continues to broadcast several channels of the Houthi regime in Yemen, including the Al-Masirah channel, which advocates, with explicit anti-Semitism, the destruction of Israel and justifies terrorist attacks carried out against the merchant fleet in the Red Sea.

Al Mayadeen TV and Houthi channels are not currently subject to European or national sanctions, but the responsibility of the French operator in their transmission can be questioned given that the calls for hatred and terrorist action are explicit.

In the absence of information provided by the operator, it is up to the French authorities to establish public transparency on the uplink countries of these channels.

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The Diderot Committee and its partners (Union of Ukrainians in France, Russia-Freedom, Association For Ukraine, for Freedom and Ours, Alliance of Women for Democracy) will organize a demonstration on the occasion of the Eutelsat Group General Assembly, on November 21, 2024. The demonstration will again call on the operator to take responsibility and on Arcom to formally demand that the operator comply with European and Ukrainian sanctions.

For any further information, please contact: André Lange, coordinator of the Diderot Committee, comite.denisdiderot@gmail.com