Sanctions

In Europe, Just Reposting Russian Propaganda Can Land a Blogger in Jail

Don't assume this couldn't happen in America too.

Matthew Petti | 7.6.2026 10:56 AM

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The Curia of the European Union in Luxembourg. (IMAGO/photonews.at/Georges Schneider/IMAGO/photonews.at/Newscom)

Traugott Ickeroth is not a famous blog. The three people who run the website make around 45,000 euros ($50,000) in a year from reader donations. One of those people also uses the "Traugott Ickerroth" pseudonym to publish tracts about interdimensional aliens and the Illuminati. But European governments have decided to make an example of the trio. Last week, the European Union's supreme court ruled that German authorities can prosecute them for reposting clips from RT, a channel funded by the Russian government.

After Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the European Union passed sanctions making it illegal "for operators to broadcast or to enable, facilitate or otherwise contribute to broadcast, any content" from certain Russian propagandists. Traugott Ickeroth shared RT videos on three occasions in 2023, prompting police in the German state of Saarland to seize the website and prosecute the bloggers for violating economic sanctions. Case documents note that the blog earned 60,038.65 euros ($68.517,61) from April 2022 through August 2023.

The Saarbrücken........

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