OREANDA-NEWS. Senator Alexei Pushkov suggested journalist Margarita Simonyan to organize and hold an international conference on freedom of speech.

 The British Foreign Office has previously refused to accredit Sputnik and RT to the Global Conference on Freedom of the Media, which is being held in London.  The British side said that these media play an "active role in the dissemination of misinformation."

 Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that it was necessary to present the facts because of which the publications were not accredited.  Otherwise, the refusal can be regarded as "malicious slander against Russian journalism."

 Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the MIA Russia Today and RT TV channel, supported the idea of ​​Federation Council member Alexei Pushkov to hold an international conference on freedom of speech in response to a similar event in London where RT and Sputnik were not allowed.