Russian Lawmakers Expand Scope Of 'Foreign Agents' Law Limiting Press Freedom, Work Of NGOs

The Russian parliament’s lower chamber has approved several controversial bills that human rights watchdogs and the opposition have said undermine democratic processes.

Among the legislation approved by the State Duma on December 23 was a series of amendments to the controversial law on “foreign agents” that requires organizations that have received the label to report their activities and face financial audits.

The changes expand the scope of individuals and groups that can be designated “foreign agents,” introduce new restrictions and registration and reporting requirements, and oblige the media to note the designation whenever they mention these individuals or groups.

The new law says individuals, including foreign journalists, involved in Russia’s political developments or collecting materials and data related to Russia’s defense or national security issues must be included on the list of foreign agents.

It also says that individuals labeled as “foreign agents” would be banned from joining the civil service or holding a municipal government position, while forcing them to mark their letters to authorities and other material with a “foreign agent” label.

Last month, Amnesty International slammed the proposed legislation saying it would “drastically limit and damage the work not only of civil society organizations that receive funds from outside Russia but many other groups as well.”

Another bill related to “foreign agents” and approved on December 23 lays out a punishment of up to five years in prison for individuals or organizations labeled as foreign agents who fail to inform official entities about their status, and/or refuse to report their activities to Russian authorities.

The “foreign agent” law, originally passed in 2012, requires labeled organizations to report their activities and face financial audits. Critics say the law has been arbitrarily applied to target Russian civil society organizations, human rights defenders, and political activists, including outspoken Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.

The State Duma also approved in a final reading on December 23 a bill that would allow media regulator, Roskomnadzor, to block websites that “discriminate against Russian media.”

Roskomnadzor would be allowed to partially, fully restrict, or slow access to websites found in violation of the law.

The bill is seen affecting major social-media websites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

Among other bills approved on December 23 is one that bans financial support of public events by foreign entities.

That legislation includes prohibiting the financing of public events in Russia by foreign governments, organizations, citizens, stateless citizens, individuals and organizations labeled as foreign agents, Russian citizens younger than 16, anonymous contributors, and Russian organizations that were registered less than one year before providing financial support to a public event.

All of the bills approved on December 23 must still be approved by the parliament’s upper chamber, the Federation Council, before they are endorsed into law by President Vladimir Putin.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax