How many people really watch or read RT, anyway? It’s hard to tell, but some of their social numbers are eye-popping | Nieman Journalism Lab

Is RT’s international audience real?

That’s an important question, as regulators and distributors debate where the Kremlin-backed network falls on the spectrum from news channel to state propaganda. All across the world, RT is being tossed off cable systems, blocked by ad networks, removed from app stores, downranked in search engines, or banned outright.

But the level of concern would seem inextricably linked to the size of RT’s reach; propaganda isn’t particularly effective if no one sees it. Is it a rising power in an information war, or a waste of Kremlin cash that fakes its own numbers?

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