The TV program, which airs on RT, had over 160,000 followers on the platform
Elon Musk’s social media platform X has suspended the account of Going Underground, an independent UAE-based TV production that airs on RT and covers geopolitics and current affairs. According to the notice shared with RT on Tuesday, the suspension came after the program’s account was reviewed by a human moderator and allegedly found to have violated the platform’s rules.
“@GUnderground_TV has been suspended for violating X rules… specifically our rules against inauthentic behavior. You may not use our services to engage in inauthentic behavior that undermines the integrity of X,” the notice stated, without further explanation.
According to Going Underground, the suspension was followed by a complaint about the account reposting a clip from year-old RT report on Gaza. The report revolved around the enclave’s rich oil and gas resources, and the post offered these as the major reasons why US President Donald Trump has recently shown interest in taking control over Gaza.
In a notice also shared with RT, X informed Going Underground that it will be withholding the reported content in the EU “specifically for the following legal grounds: Scope of Platform Service,” apparently citing the EU Digital Services Act, which regulates digital data within the bloc. RT broadcasts have officially been banned in the EU since 2022.
X has suspended the account of @GUnderground_TV with over 160,000 followers after over a decade of posting breaking news and our interviews with world leaders, dissidents, cultural icons and many more. @elonmusk@lindayaX please rectify this. X was supposed to be the platform… pic.twitter.com/5hxjv4gbVk
Going Underground’s long-standing host Afshin Rattansi criticized X’s decision in a post on his personal account, calling on the platform’s executives, including Musk, to fix the situation.
“X has suspended the account of @GUnderground_TV with over 160,000 followers after over a decade of posting breaking news and our interviews with world leaders, dissidents, cultural icons and many more,” Rattansi wrote.
“Please rectify this. X was supposed to be the platform against censorship,” he added, asking his followers to repost this call.
Earlier the same day, an X account belonging to RT’s India branch, was suspended over allegedly unlawfully “impersonating” RT, a claim the channel has since denied, calling the situation “obviously unjust.”
RT has faced increasing pressure from the West ever since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and subsequent Western sanctions on Moscow. Many of the channel’s branches faced closures abroad, and its online presence has suffered after platforms such as YouTube and TikTok removed or blocked RT accounts. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, banned RT and other Russian state-linked media outlets from its apps globally last year, following US sanctions against the channel, its Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, and several top executives. Washington branded the channel a tool of Russian government propaganda, a notion RT has repeatedly dismissed as unfounded.
