The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America has filed a petition seeking to revoke the licenses of radio stations owned by Arthur Liu and Yvonne S. Liu; the controlling shareholders of Way Broadcasting. The stations are broadcasting Radio Sputnik, a Russian government owned media enterprise.
In part the petition to revoke reads:
“Simply stated, Arthur and Yvonne Liu have exchanged the lives of innocent women and children in return for thirty pieces of Russian silver. They have failed in their duty to broadcast in the public interest. Their actions are so heartless and uncaring that not only should the license of WZHF(AM) be revoked, but all their above captioned licenses should be revoked as well.”
You can view the Full Petition Here.
Arthur and Yvonne Liu certainly deserve to lose their station licenses. Vladimir Putin is the worst dictator since Hitler and his forces are committing the same kind of atrocities. Liu’s actions are pure, unmitigated greed. Carrying Radio Sputnik and any other propaganda from Putin’s government is just as bad as a station carrying Hitler’s Reichsrundfunk during World War II. If NATO is drawn into this war by Putin crossing a “red line”, such as using chemical or biological weapons against the Ukrainians, the United States will be an active combatant. At that point, the Lius would deserve not only to lose their radio stations but to spend a nice, long stretch in federal prison.
The First Amendment does not protect the giving of aid and comfort to the enemy.
But, then, your “solution” is exactly the kind of thing that Vlad Putin does.
Liu, or the broadcaster in the Kansas City market who was recently profiled on here, are highly unwise to carry such programming, but let’s not so easily slip into censorship.