The left media platform red. media has announced it is ceasing operations following a months-long disinformation campaign, supported by much of the German media establishment. On May 20, platform founder Hüseyin Doğru was added to the EU’s latest sanctions list targeting Russia. While EU announcements cite alleged ties between red. media and Russian authorities, the outlet maintains that the move is retaliation for its reporting on Germany’s repression of pro-Palestine activism.
Since its launch, the platform has documented the work of Palestine solidarity groups in Europe and beyond, leading to targeted attacks by Zionist organizations and their allies. “What we are experiencing is orchestrated repression – legitimized by a media-manufactured myth of threat,” the organization stated. “It is an attack on independent journalism – and on every voice that challenges the official narrative.”
Over the past 18 months, red. media reported on the growing Palestine solidarity movement in the region, including in Germany, where state and institutional repression has escalated sharply. This has included police violence against activists, threats of deportation against peaceful protesters, and political bans on academic events and media professionals. These developments have received little to no scrutiny from Germany’s mainstream press, whose reporting on the Gaza genocide has been overwhelmingly biased and unwilling to question the government’s unconditional support for Israel under the so-called Staatsräson.
Read more: Legal group reveals extent of anti-Palestinian repression across Germany
At the same time, red. media became the target of accusations, amplified by liberal and corporate journalists, of being a proxy for Russian interests. The platform has denied these claims, pointing out that none of the reporters who wrote about its supposed Kremlin ties had contacted them directly to verify their funding sources. Despite the absence of evidence and despite the organization’s own critical reporting on certain Russian authorities’ moves, media narratives quickly established an unsubstantiated link between the outlet and the Putin administration.
When red. media published background information on one of the journalists involved in the discreditation campaign – Jerusalem Post and Tageszeitung contributor Nicholas Potter – the backlash intensified. Recently, Doğru was contacted by German police in relation to a criminal complaint accusing him of leading an “online campaign based on defamation and insults.” Staff members also faced threats, including to their safety, finally leading to the decision to shut down.
While red. media faces legal persecution and sanctions, the smear campaign against them has received far less scrutiny. “Through deliberate distortion and a reversal of perpetrator and victim roles, there is an attempt to construct a so-called ‘Kremlin-radical-left-Palestinian’ conspiracy against supposedly professional journalists in Germany,” the organization warned. These narratives, red. media emphasized, are not only created solely by media outlets but are enabled by the convergence of press and political interests: for example, former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s claim that red. media is a direct successor to the outlet Redfish, based on German media speculation.
A similar pattern of disinformation appears in the EU’s rationale for Doğru’s inclusion on the sanctions list, which accuses him and red. media of spreading misinformation on “politically controversial subjects.” The argument offers little evidence of financial ties to Russia but criticizes the platform for giving space to diverse voices, including Palestinian liberation movements, and for covering university occupations – activities many would consider fundamental to journalism.
Read more: In defense of press freedom, we demand an end to Israel’s genocide
According to the outlet’s recent statements, the tactics implemented against them not only aim to discredit critical voices and expose them to legal harassment, but also distract readers from their actual reporting – notably on the genocide in Gaza and NATO imperialism – with the final goal of suppressing dissent. “Increasingly, freedom of speech is reserved only for the political right,” red. media wrote. “Those who express solidarity with Palestine under threat of state, social, or media repression – those who march against Nazis – are silenced, beaten, or even nearly deported.”
The announcement of red. media’s closure was met with concern among other progressive media outlets and journalists in the region, who see it as yet another sign of deteriorating press freedom when it comes to Palestine solidarity. Some warned that this might signal more closures in the future. As red. media concluded: “Today we are the target. Tomorrow it will be you. What we are witnessing is the global normalization of repression – where speaking out against genocide is being criminalized.”
