European regulators under fire for allowing broadcasts by a satellite channel tied to Houthis

European regulators are under increasing fire for allowing pan-continental television and radio broadcasts by a satellite channel closely tied to the Yemen-based Houthi movement – the same group that attacked Red Sea shipping lanes and is openly aligned with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Though a minor media presence at best, the Al-Masirah channel is attracting outsized criticism at a time when mass migration, security fears and a rising tide of nationalism are reshaping European politics.

Al-Masirah’s content includes repetition of the Houthi’s “Death to America! Death to Israel!” slogan along with broadcasting speeches by Houthi leadership; encouragement of resistance against what it calls U.S., Israeli, Saudi and Western “aggression;” religious sermons; political commentary and reports on military and humanitarian developments in Yemen.

The Houthis, a Zaydi Shiite Muslim movement, have been in conflict with the Sunni Muslim-led and internationally recognized government of Yemen for over 20 years.

Reporters Without Borders has called the outlet “the main Houthi mouthpiece,” while the United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen said it was “central to the [Houthi] movement’s radicalization messaging.”

Yet in Europe, the channel continues to beam its signal across the continent via a major satellite operator, despite criticisms from lawmakers, Jewish organizations and security experts.

Europe’s powerful regulatory machinery has been quick to clamp down on disinformation, hate speech and extremist content produced inside Europe. But it appears to have been slower and more hesitant when dealing with foreign extremist voices.

“If a European outlet repeated much of what Al-Masirah broadcasts it would be quickly shut down,” Antonio Molisano, an Italian activist and a former member of the European Parliament, told Just the News. “But because the content is coming from outside the European Union regulators only talk about procedural questions.”

The movement has attracted similar criticism within Yemen itself, where Moammar Al-Eryani, the country’s minister of information, culture, and tourism, recently opined that allowing Al-Masirah to broadcast that “Europe betrays the values it claims to defend and it becomes complicit in spreading extremist hate.”

Similarly, an editorial in the Jerusalem Post characterized Europe’s inaction when it comes to Al-Masirah as “moral surrender.”

But supporters of what some European media call a “prudent” evaluation of Al-Masirah’s activities in Europe claim that because the Houthis are not designated as a terror organization in the European Union, the broadcaster is entitled to due process. The U.S. designated the Houthis as a terror group in March.)

Additionally, there’s the argument that European Union principles of free speech extend even to fringe or hostile viewpoints and that banning the channel could strengthen its appeal among radicalized groups. Extremist propaganda, analysts say, are easier to monitor when they are visible and public.

But perhaps most importantly, a unilateral removal of Al-Masirah from European airwaves could set a precedent for the removal of other politically sensitive non-European broadcasters, including Russian-language opposition media, broadcasters critical of the regime in Iran from that country’s diaspora, Kurdish channels that are critical of Turkey, or Chinese-language pro-democracy outlets.