Here's the thing: what's happening to the Ukrainian people and their country is horrible. But to punish all Russians (and people simply associated with Russia) for this is simply absurd.

Like, Russian hockey players are losing sponsorships

just for being Russian. What sense does that make?

The above is obviously crazy, what's a more difficult sell is what we've been attempting to say:

We are a video platform. We want to allow competing voices in journalism, whether they're CNN, Fox, RT, Sputnik or anyone else, and we aren't interested in telling you what to think. And not in a "it's an important to be a free thinker" way, but in a "no, seriously; we don't care about your political views" way.

Believe it or not, but RT and Sputnik journalists are people too. They not only lost their jobs, but had their reputations as journalists come under fire, being characterised as "corrupt journalists receiving memos directly from the Kremlin."

Is this true? Well, we don't really know anything about the inner-workings of RT or Sputnik, so that's not for us to say.

But even if RT or Sputnik are completely biased and get their talking points directly from Putin himself, we would still consider it important to allow them to be heard, if for no other reason than to have a better understanding of the propaganda being disseminated to the Russian people.

For these reasons, Odysee will not be removing any journalists affiliated with Russian networks or Russian news networks themselves. We support freedom of the press, and this will not change.

Julian Chandra
Chief Executive Officer
Odysee, Inc.