F oreign media outlets in the Russian Federation are the latest controversy between Russia and the United States, around which new tension has been rising due to the recent fine imposed on Radio Liberty, a news corporation labelled by the Russian government as “agents”.

Early in the year, the Russian Government threatened Radio Free Europe with multimillion-dollar fines, in order to push the US-funded news outlet out from Russia. The US State Department spokesman Ned Price referred to the Russian court’s decision on Radio Liberty and expressed “deep concern” about the “escalation of repressive measures aimed at supporting freedom of the press in Russian. On March 13, Republicans and Democrats made a joint statement, accusing Russian authorities and especially President V. Putin of “tightening legislation for “punishing” Kremlin critics, as well as for actions threatening the safety of journalists”. In response, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on Washington not to interfere in the Russian judicial system.

The rule surrounding “foreign agents” in Russia has been amended many times with the tightening of restrictions on the law.  Russia adopted this law relatively late in 2012, and it's no coincidence it coincided with the mass political protests in the country during 2011-2012. The new amendment was made to counter “Non-Governmental Organizations”, according to which non-profit organizations in Russia receiving funds from foreign states and their state bodies or any international and foreign organizations will get the status of a foreign agent.

Based on the law, non-commercial organizations, except for political parties, that are recognised as participating in political activities in the Russian Federation, regardless of the goals and objectives specified in its constituent documents are considered “agents” under law. Participate in organizing and conducting political activity for the purposes of influence and aimed at changing state policy, as well as in the formation of public opinion for these purposes are considered illegal.

The following types of organizations are not listed as “foreign agents”.

• foreigners working in the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business organizations,
• registered religious organizations,
• state corporations and companies, as well as NGOs created by them.

In February, Radio Liberty in Russia and its general director were fined 11 million rubles for not marking their media centre with the “foreign agent” label. Idel Realities and Siberia Realities news websites owned by Radio Liberty and Real Time TV channel were also fined 2 million rubles. Already in March, the total fines of Radio Liberty exceeded 53 million rubles due to the lack of a “foreign agent” label across their entire media organization. The organization didn’t agree with the court’s decision and is going to apply for an appeal to the international justice bodies, including the ECHR.

Besides the possible fines, the problem here was the “foreign agent” label, which has a negative connotation, as it is associated with the concept of “spy”, however, in this context it is more associated with lobbying and the influence it possesses. According to the survey conducted by Levada center in 2017, 57% of the population has a negative attitude towards “agents”. The law was perceived as an unnecessary interference to control the activities of the civil society, however similar laws apply in a number of countries. The US was among the first countries to use the term “foreign agent”, by adopting The Foreign Agent Registration Act in 1938. At first, the act was aimed at combatting the influence of Nazi German agents, and in 1966 during the Cold War, it was mostly aimed at political lobbyists acting on behalf of foreign states, who had to be registered. In those years, Russian TASS and Izvestia appeared in the US register of Foreign Agents.

There was no mention in the media about the law adopted in Russia in 2012. Only 5 years later, a new law “On Foreign Agent Mass Media” was adopted. According to the new wording of the Article 6 of the Law on Mass Media, the Ministry of Justice was given the right to recognise any foreign media outlet as a “foreign agent”, which receives funding or property from foreign bodies or citizens directly or through Russian legal entities.

Mass media with their responsibilities are equated with non-commercial organization-agents. It was the mirror image of the US decision made by Russia, as the US also labeled RT America and Sputnik as “foreign agents” in the United States in the same year. In the case of Sputnik, the reason was Andrew Feinberg’s dismissal from the site, after which he reported about his activity to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Shortly after the law passed in Russia, Voice of America and Free Europe/Radio Liberty appeared in this list, as well as the Current Time TV Channel, Tatar-Bashkir Radio Liberty (AzatliqRadiosi), Syberia.Realities, Idel.Realities, Faktograf, Kavkaz.Realies, Krim.Realies funded by them. The list was completed by North.Realies in 2019 and by Czech MEDIUM-ORIENT news agency in 2020.

The only problematic case has so far been the above-mentioned case of Radio Liberty. The decision made in 2018 became a subject of heated discussions, according to which  recognizing persons as foreign agents who distribute materials of foreign media outlets or their participation in their creation was debated. Ultimately the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will decide on people who will be included in the agent’s list. The risk zone includes journalists working at Foreign Agent Mass Media and foreign-funded companies. Lev Ponomaryov, member of Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, People’s Deputy of Russia (1990-1993) and deputy of the first convocation of the State Duma, journalist of Radio Liberty Lyudmila Savitskaya, journalist of 7 × 7 Sergey Markelov, journalist of the “Pskov province” and artist-aktsionistka Daria Apahonchich appeared in the list in 2020.

According to the new legislative changes introduced at the end of 2020, in the case of spreading materials of “foreign agent” without a label, citizens will be fined from 2 to 2,5 thousand rubles, officials will be fined from 4 to 5 thousand rubles and legal entities from 40 to 50 thousand rubles.