Reuters has cut ties with a Russian agency, the news agency said Wednesday.
Reuters began listing TASS, a state-backed Russian outlet, on its content marketplace in 2020.
That partnership has been revoked, a spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.
“We have decided to remove all TASS content from the business-to-business marketplace on our Reuters Connect platform,” the spokesperson said.
Matthew Keen, Reuters’ interim CEO, told staffers in a memorandum that making TASS content available to customers “is not aligned with” the company’s Trust Principles, according to Reuters.
Those principles, created in 1941 during World War II, require Reuters and its workers to work to “fully preserve” integrity, independence, and freedom of bias, and say Reuters will supply “unbiased and reliable news services” to its customers, which include businesses and news outlets.
Reuters says its newsroom operates independently from Reuters Connect.
TASS was no longer listed as a source inside the marketplace and none of its stories were available, according to an Epoch Times review.
Reuters announced in June 2020 that its partnership with TASS would provide customers with “breaking news and exclusive video,” including videos of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Reuters neglected to mention how TASS is owned by the Russian government.
Sergey Mikhailov, the CEO of TASS, said at the time that none of Russia’s media outlets had partnered with Reuters before. “Selecting our agency as a partner highlights the reputation of TASS as a source of exceptionally verified news,” he said.
TASS did not respond to a request for comment on the new development.
Getty Images, a photograph agency, stopped distributing TASS pictures earlier in March.
“In order to ensure the integrity of the content we distribute, we require that partners and contributors comply with our Editorial Policy,” a Getty spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. “Recent TASS content failed to meet those guidelines and ingestion of their content was suspended. We have notified them of a breach of our agreement and are terminating our relationship.”
Other Russian outlets have also seen content restricted or barred by countries and businesses. Canadian broadcasters, for instance, were recently banned from broadcasting Russia Today, another state-run media.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, sparking widespread backlash against Russian leaders and the Russian people.
Numerous companies have stopped or curtailed operations inside Russia as a way to protest the war, including Nestle, Starbucks, and Goldman Sachs.
