For several years, Latvian broadcast regulators have attempted to stem the tide of Russian state propaganda by removing the licenses of broadcasters and blocking channels pumping out lies and hatred as far as possible.

However, despite these efforts it remains relatively simple for those determined to do so to sidestep the restrictions and watch Kremlin propaganda online, reported LTV’s Forbidden Method investigative show September 16.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) has banned a total of 163 television channels in Latvia, and blocked access to more than 1000 websites.

“What must be understood is that Latvia is a country with rule of law. We check all the owners of these channels, including the real beneficiaries and owners, and also follow this content… It is not always possible to close them immediately. We have closed 163 programs since the start of the war and from time to time we close another one. And you can believe that we are really checking and working,” stated NEPLP chairman Ivars Āboliņš.

Criminal liability is also provided for in Latvia if someone offers to bypass the restrictions and distribute banned Russian channels. The State Police is fighting against it. “We receive these reports regularly both from citizens and, of course, in cooperation with the National Electronic Mass Media Council and also non-governmental organizations. Hundreds, even thousands of different devices and equipment have been seized,” said Armands Ruks, head of the State Police.

Last year, 13 criminal proceedings were initiated for providing illegal access to banned television programs in Latvia, and another four so far this year. The most common punishments are community service and fines.

An increasingly popular way of bypassing the law is the use of a Virtual Private Network or VPN, LTV was told. Quick to install and costing just a couple of euros per month, a VPN allows the digital address of a person’s computer or television to be asigned to another country or territory where restrictions do not apply. Advertising for VPN services is widespread on the internet.

There are also so-called IP internet television channels which offer a package of different channels, often including prohibited ones. Again, installation is easy if you have a high speed internet connection and the costs are low. Another method is to point a satellite dish at a Russian source – but this is believed to be a relatively rare way of going about things as such technology is dated in the modern world of high-speed internet, even in remote locations.

Perhaps pleasingly, “Forbidden method”‘s attempt to offer questionable TV connections to residents in Latvia’s easternmost region, Latgale using an undercover operative posing as a TV installer failed to meet with much success.

The undercover reporter visited apartment blocks in our different settlements and offered to hook residents up with TV channels – though the words “Russian channels” or “forbidden channels” were not used, as offering such a service is illegal.

While a few people said they could already watch what they wanted via YouTube, just one person expressed real interest in a potentially illegal hook-up – and even she said she didn’t want any politics.

Forbidden Method also posted an advertisement in several places. During the entire experiment, only one woman responded who wanted more channels, expressing a particular interest in Belarusian channels.

Perhaps the reason for such a lack of interest in the show’s attempted sting is straightforward: a couple of keyword searches is all it takes to find the most vitriolic pro-Kremlin propaganda from state-backed broadcasters on YouTube. Though the Rossiya 1 channel is nominally blocked by the Google-owned company, the latest comments from its roster of notorious hate-mongers such as Vladimir Solovyov are readily accessible after even the most cursory of searches.

According to the NEPLP’s Āboliņš, there was “very active” communication with YouTube when Russia started its war in Ukraine and some banned channels were geoblocked in Latvia. However, the Latvian regulator needs to ask for specific accounts to have action taken against them, and it is relatively straightforward to set up new or unofficial accounts with much the same content.

“Yes, it is a long correspondence with them, but in the end they respond in most cases. They impose a geoblock specifically for the territory of Latvia,” said Āboliņš.

However, it remains the case that while regulators in Latvia and the other Baltic states do their best to keep the airwaves as clean as possible, the internet giants and social media companies are really the – sometimes reluctant – gatekeepers of much of Latvia’s informational space.