RT Journalist’s Question at UNESCO Conference Exposes Western Media Freedom Hypocrisy: Russia

Moscow. A single question posed by a Russian journalist at the two-day UNESCO World Press Freedom Day conference in Lusaka, Zambia, has exposed the double standards of Western countries, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that at similar conferences held in New York in 2023 and Brussels in 2025, Russian journalists were prevented from participating — sometimes because the conference link would not work, other times because visas were not issued in time. However, in Lusaka, RT International chief producer Dmitry Leontyev not only managed to reach the microphone but also asked a question that, judging by the reaction in the room, left many stunned.

“He asked — how can those who endlessly lecture others about media pluralism restrict their own citizens’ access to the full range of socially significant information? And how can they threaten countries like Zambia with sanctions unless they follow suit and block media outlets the West has baselessly branded as ‘disinformation’ channels?” Zakharova stated.

According to her, not a single speaker at the conference gave a clear answer. “The West’s house of cards built on lies is wobbling ever more visibly. It is being held together with duct tape — the very tape that all too often runs across the mouths of international officials who are duty-bound to tell the truth about the catastrophic state of journalists’ safety and freedom of speech in the world, but fail to do so,” Zakharova said.