Sputnik, RT and other banned Russian media remain accessible through AI chatbots, RSF alleges

Most major consumer AI chatbots still open a route to Russian state media sanctioned by the European Union, according to an investigation by Reporters Without Borders. Ask ChatGPT, Claude or Grok for material from outlets such as Sputnik and RT, and the systems can reproduce it despite the restrictions imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

RSF tested the chatbots in June and August. The systems produced full press reviews on international news, bringing up headlines, links and verbatim passages from the sanctioned outlets. They did not always tell users that the media organizations faced EU sanctions.

Mistral’s Vibe, formerly known as Le Chat, and Google’s Gemini initially resisted some requests but eventually complied after RSF repeated its queries. Meta AI was the only chatbot that refused requests referring to the sanctions, which RSF cited as evidence that compliance is technically possible.

“The EU sanctions do not achieve their objective under these conditions,” said Vincent Berthier, head of RSF’s technology and journalism desk. The organization is asking Brussels to open an inquiry into whether OpenAI is failing to prevent systemic disinformation risks on ChatGPT, and to begin infringement proceedings against other AI assistants. OpenAI told RSF it took the findings seriously and was reviewing the material provided by the group.

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The EU sanctions do not achieve their objective under these conditions.