Contents tagged with Foreign Agent Law
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EU condemns Russian 'Foreign Agent' media law
The EU asserted that the “foreign agent” media law, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 25th, runs counter to Russia’s obligations to uphold human rights and threatens “free and independent media.”
This is another attempt to hinder the development of a civil society in the country, said the European Union External Action on Sunday, November 26.
In Brussels, they are sure that as a result of “fines, checks, and the stigma” associated with the implementation of the law, “the …
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Putin signs media ‘Foreign Agents’ Bill
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill on the status of media “foreign agents”. The relevant documents were published on Saturday, November 25, on Russia’s official portal for legal information.
According to the bill, "a legal entity registered in a foreign country, or a foreign structure without the formation of a legal entity, which distributes printed, audio, audio-visual and other messages and materials (of foreign mass media) intended for an unlimited number of persons, may be …
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Russian Federation Council approves the bill on recognizing foreign media as foreign agents
The Federation Council of Russia approved a bill allowing the Russian Ministry of Justice to recognize any foreign media as a foreign agent.
Dozhd (Rain TV) reported that the Duma adopted an amendment in all readings in one day as a response to the actions of the US authorities against Russia Today news agency. The United Nations Human Rights Council or UNHRС recommended the Federation Council to reject the bill and send it for revision. However, the senators approved the bill at a plenary …
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US State Department: Russia does not understand law on foreign agents
Russia is misinterpreting the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which creates transparency but does not restrict freedom of speech or prevent the spread of information, an official US State Department representative told TASS.
The State Department spokesperson was commenting on the amendments adopted in Russia which make it possible to recognize overseas media as foreign agents.
According to the representative, in official Russian statements this bill is connected to the demand to “ …
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Washington: US State Department follows up the adoption of Russian law on foreign agent media
The Department of State is closely following the fate of the Russian law on foreign agents, RIA Novosti reports, citing a department representative.
"We are closely following this bill to see whether it will be adopted and how it will be implemented," he said.
According to him, the State Department informed its Russian partners that "FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act in the United States) promotes transparency without limiting freedom of speech."
Previously, the State Duma adopted, in …
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Russian Justice Ministry defines ‘political activity’ to amend ‘Foreign Agent Law’
In 2012, the Russian State Duma adopted a law requiring all nongovernmental organizations engaged in political activity that receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” with the Ministry of Justice, a designation that severely hinders an NGO's ability to operate in the Russian Federation. While the law initially provided a vague definition of "political activity", the Ministry of Justice adopted a new amendment on Friday defining it as any work in the sphere of federal or …