Today, in a growing multipolar world, intolerance towards any sovereign and independent thought is not just an anachronism, it is a huge obstacle to the development of mutual understanding and trust between peoples. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated this at an evening at the Bolshoi Theater on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the RT television channel.
Putin recalled that “in the early 2000s, the leading Western media abused their monopoly position,” and almost always “under the guise of objective news, they put out whatever they wanted, trying to implant in the minds and hearts of millions of people not just some new rules, or rather even a new civilizational space based on false moral values.”
“For years they taught us how to live, how the media should work, how to understand democracy and what democracy is, what real freedom of speech is, they convinced us of the importance of competition, pluralism of opinions and so on,” the president noted.
But any monopoly, in his words, is “too early or later, the end will certainly come, regardless of how much those who maintain them pay to try to maintain these monopolies.”
“Today, in an increasingly powerful multipolar world, intolerance of any sovereign and independent thought is not just an anachronism, it is a huge obstacle to the development of mutual understanding and trust between peoples, which we all need. And this obstacle is just like any other obstacles will certainly be removed. It is impossible in any other way,” the President of the Russian Federation expressed confidence.
“Our country firmly defends traditional values and is their stronghold in modern life, full of contradictions, conflicts and challenges. Moreover, we do not discriminate against anyone, we do not prohibit anything, including in those areas that I spoke about. We’re just trying defend your point of view, your view of the modern world and the future,” Putin concluded.