It's not a state secret, but...
Many of them refer to the army, and it is stated that foreign governments could use information about them against Russia's security. There are new risks for journalists to be labeled as foreign agents.
The list includes broad topics such as collecting information about "the development of military-political circumstances" and "the location, numbers, and armaments" of military forces, their personal data and problems that "hinder the development" of the notoriously corruption-prone state space agency Roscosmos.
News outlets also risk being tagged "foreign agent" for covering military tenders while Russian citizens who would disclose them abroad can be labeled "foreign agents", which critics say creates risks for journalists covering areas such as the military or Russian space exploration, as Reuters reports.
Last year, Russia amended the law on "foreign agents", which requires organizations that are on that list to report their activities and be the subject of financial inspections, and it applies to both Russian citizens and foreigners.
The law on "foreign agents" opens the possibility of up to five years prison sentence for responsible individuals or organizations who are labelled as foreign agents and who do not inform official bodies about their status and refuse to inform Russian authorities about their activities.
"Foreign agents" are required by law to submit regular financial reports and include boilerplate text stating their designation on everything they publish, including social media posts.
Russia has labeled several media outlets and dozens of journalists as "foreign agents" in recent months, according to Reuters.
The laws have been broadly criticized within Russia and abroad as an unjustified assault on...
- Log in to post comments